[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by ahi

Let me try to be clearer still:

I think it should be illegal--by national/federal law--for a device maker to construct their device in a way to facilitate the monitoring or deleting of content without explicit consent by the user on a case by case basis.

The fact that it isn't doesn't make the issue irrelevant. Amazon's slimy fore-planning is the root cause of the problems.

- Ahi

Ah, but here we get into the realm of user agreements. A company can put anything in there, but whether it will hold up in court is a completely different thing, naturally.

Originally Posted by Shaggy

Are we positive it's not? I can see them getting away with monitoring via a term in the contract (authorized access), Microsoft basically does the same thing with their automatic updates and WGA, but not deleting. I would expect that if Microsoft went in and started deleting user owned content, they would get nailed for it.

That's a push technology, but not a pull technology. And when they do pull (reading info from your PC), you explicitly grant them permission. If I turn off automatic updates, MS can't see what I've running on my PC.

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

I also see no particular reason why this action would be illegal. Unwanted yes, undesirable yes, but illegal? What's the statute? Remember, this is not an organization with no right to access your e-reader; you've already granted them access in the TOS. You are also not purchasing tangible property, you're licensing content.

See my first statements, whatever they put in a UA, it may not hold up in court. And about the licensing, that's a whole other ball game (do you buy ebooks (which all sites say you do, even on amazon it says "buy now"), or do you lease ebooks, for a one-time fee?)

Originally Posted by griffonwing

NOW the issue is this. Amazon issued this statement first "Apparently, the publisher changed its mind about having electronic versions of Orwell's books. So Amazon removed them from the store..." according to Gizmodo.

Amazon, regardless of legal purchases, will renege on your purchase agreement at the whim of a publisher who changes their mind. This they have just proven. I understand those who will say "This was just another case of a PD issue", but before that fact came to light, it was a matter of a publisher changing their mind, and pulling all previously sold books from the store and the Kindles.

This is what we should really be focusing on. Reneging on honest sales during a legitimate agreement between publisher/distributor/purchaser. They've already proven they they are willing to do it.

I know also they were quoted as saying they would no longer be deleting the books from the Kindle in regards to PD works, but does the same go for when a publisher changes their mind?

That is something to at least think about, and keep in mind when you decide to purchase another ebook from Amazon.

So, if I buy a pbook, and the publisher decided the store I bought the book from shouldn't have been able to sell the book, will they come and get that book from my shelves? Because that's what happened here, if what you say is the reason.

Food for thought...