Quote:
Originally Posted by ApK
I've not seen any such reports, but even if it were exactly true, that's not a time limit. You would be free to re download and keep reading indefinitely.
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Only in that the original stops working (and at that point you are dependent on the original source being in business, so you can redownload ... assuming you even want to re-read at that point, of course).
And the Kindle edition expiring when you upgrade your device (or break it or get a new computer), IS an issue, if you are not 100% certain that the company will still be in business later or still playing with ebooks at that time (which, I'll admit, is a fairly safe bet at this point, for Amazon, but much less so for other companies; with Apple, the safer bet is that they'll hold your books hostage until you purchase additional hardware, as has already started to happen to those with older iPhones/iPads - with the next release of iBooks, I fully expect my iPad to be left in the dust, along with the original iPhone).
I've purchased books from companies that have gone under or been purchased by others. In two cases, the purchasing company made the books available by moving your account to another company; with the rest, well, hope you made backups.
Microsoft has now orphaned LIT with DRM, so those that don't strip DRM will find their books unreadable once their authorized computers fail (and it wasn't that easy to get one authorized in the last few years, anyway).