Quote:
Originally Posted by gandor62
Hi all. I have my finger over the order button for a International Kindle and a horrible though has just crossed my mind. I currently use my iPhone and Stanza to read and have had to modify a lot of books to get them to work. DRM, I'm talking about.
What I'm concerned about is if Amazon decides that I don't own whats on the kindle can they remove it at their leisure. Stories of 1984 come to mind. Id hate to get into an argument with them and having to prove ownership of everything I load onto the kindle.
Does anyone know if they can or do remove your own loaded stuff from the kindles memory.
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They can and they already did at least once (with legally from Amazon purchased stuff, not with uploaded ones).
There has been a huge thread about this around 2 months ago.
They did compensate all buyers by generous credit notes. But still lots of people have been pissed, as their legally owned book had been pulled over night.
For me, the solution is quite simple: I've got the old, non-international, Kindles. In Germany, I can't use Whispernet, so no one can pull anything from my units.
If I'd have Whispernet, I wouldn't leave it on permanently, but just for downloading books and then turning off again. And of course: Backup, Backup, Backup.
As for your own stuff: As far as I know, because of privacy issues, they wouldn't be allowed to access your unit, check your content and then decide what to keep and what to delete. (Similar with Microsoft. They easily could check your PC for pirated software and delete it or even cripple your OS.)
For the stuff bought from Amazon, they seem to have the understanding, it's their right to change their mind later on. In their understanding, you don't buy the book, but only the right to use it. A right which can be revoked anytime.