[Kali Yuga]

Originally Posted by Sonist

Uhm, speaking of naïve, YOU may see no particular reason, why a policeman cannot do a body-cavity search on you without probable cause either.... In fact, I am sure, there are some out there, who actually dream of such act being done to them....

Oooookay.

Anyway, Amazon did not "reach out" to the devices and conduct a search. The relevant data is stored on Amazon's servers, and they access that information on a regular basis.

Originally Posted by Sonist

But, the rest of us, find this act a violation. Just like we find, that deleting legally purchased files from our devices, without our permission, or a court order, a violation.

I can fully understand your distaste for this. If you prefer another e-book retailer, by all means go for it. However, the Computer Fraud and Abuse act does not apply, as that act applies specifically to computer systems in use by financial institutions, the US government, or used for interstate commerce. Similar acts also would not apply, since Amazon has authorized access to your device.

For example, if you are a current employee of a bank and delete a file (for reasons or motives unknown). What you have done may be illegal, but you are not guilty of unauthorized access to the systems.

There may well be some other relevant law, but it's not that one.

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Click through agreements do not trump law. Whatever a click through agreement says is irrelevant. IF it is illegal, then it doesn't matter what their agreement says.

True... unless the click-through agreement essentially grants Amazon access to the device. If access was authorized, it's not hacking, and therefore not illegal in the first place.

Unless, of course, you wish to posit the claim that Amazon does not have access to your Kindle, despite the fact that they transmit files to your system, delete files already (e.g. expired newspapers), and perform firmware updates. E.g. "Amazon does not have access to your Kindle, except when they access your Kindle."

You need to establish that "deleting files on a system to which you have access and/or host" is somehow illegal, and you may not find that so enticing once you consider the myriad consequences.

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

In all the examples I know of, the MMORPG data is deleted from the companies server, not from your PC. They specifically design the MMORPG so that the data is on their central servers because of this.

And your book data is kept on Amazon's servers; that's where they made the change.

Or, if you want a more exact parallel: Apple has the ability to disable any application on the iPhone. Should this be illegal? And if so, on what basis?

But my point is not based on the location of the data (or, in the MS case, how long you've got before shutdowns -- and no, 30 minutes is not enough to get all your data off a typical SBS server ). It's that many different companies can and will deny you access to digital content that you have paid for.

So you may not like it, but many companies are pretty much doing the exact same thing, just in slightly different ways. If you dislike this (which, again, is perfectly understandable), you may well find it increasingly difficult to avoid such setups in the future.