Amazon has opened a hornets nest!

[MrsJoseph]

Sooooo, the gist of what is being said is that Amazon was totally in the right by going to people's kindles and removing this book that they LEGALLY purchased?

Simply because AMAZON f'ed up their vetting process?

yeah. Love to see the double standards.

[ProfCrash]

No

Amazon was in the wrong. Amazon admitted it was wrong. Amazon compensated the injured parties, apologized, Jeff Bezos wrote (OK someone wrote it for him but his name is on it) an apology that appeared on the Amazon Website and the Kindle discussion boards.

It happened once a while back.

It has not happened since then.

It is not likely to happen again because of the massive backlash.

Any of the major e-readers that have a bookstore that you can buy from for your device can do the same thing.

Save your books on your hard drive so you have additional peace of mind just in case some store screws up and does the same thing.

Save your books on your hard drive so that if the company that you bought your books from and is storing them for you goes out of business or changes the terms of agreements you have copies of them.

[bigtext]

Originally Posted by taustin

Because that's the only way to remove stuff from the device bought through it (though the web site account). They were, at least, up front about it.

My experience is limited, but I've gotten a few books of the B&N website (mostly Free Friday items). I purchase the item (even if it $0) and it appears in the "My Nook" web page. From there I can click on Download and my browser gives me an option if I want to save to a location or open with an application. I choose to have it open in Calibre. At that point I can side-load the book onto the drive that appears when you plug the Nook in or via SD card. When I'm done with the book I can delete it from the location I side loaded it too.

Now part of the reason this works for me is I use my Nook unplugged. The wireless is never on. One time I did turn my wireless on it did sync everything in the My Nook page onto the device. I don't like having a ton of books on the device that I'm not reading so I ended up having to go back to the My Nook web page and choosing archive. That causes it to disappear from the device and I still have it in the "cloud". Not that it matters since I now have the file saved on my PC anyway. In any case, I don't turn wireless on anymore. It's more convenient to shop via PC anyway and I don't have to worry about Big Brother, so to speak, deleting or messing with setting on my device.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

It is not likely to happen again because of the massive backlash.

It is not likely to happen again because of the lawsuit.


So then why defend them? It was wrong - and the only reason it was brought up.

So there's no need to defend a completely reprehensible act, right?

[ProfCrash]

The law suit was probably the least of their worries. It was a kid complaining about losing his notes for a school book report. The awful publicity and the threat of losing a ton of money is what will prevent Amazon or any of the other e-readers from doing it again.

I don't believe any one was defending them. I believe that the eye rolls and posts were in the "It happened once, it is not a pattern of behavior, others can do the same thing, why are we discussing this many years after the fact" vein.

ie Amazon screwed up, said so, it has not happened again, so why is it being brought up many years after the fact? I would not want a new e-reader user or someone looking into buying an e-reader thinking that this is a common practice for any company, because it is not, or that this happened last week, because it didn't.

That is like the people who post that they wouldn't get the current Sony Touch because of the glare problems the Sony had. People rightly say that those issues existed for a model two generations ago and were solved with the 650 line.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by CyGuy

I don't understand what you mean. They should simply ask that you return the item, and make the refund contingent upon the return.

You said:

The ability to do this is the issue. They should not have the ability to view, manage, or edit any content that is located on a personal device.

How do they know if you have returned it if they can't look at what is on your devices?

[CyGuy]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

How do they know if you have returned it if they can't look at what is on your devices?

You could e-mail them the file or perhaps FTP the file. I am not sure what the return process is, only that the contents on the device are private property.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

How do they know if you have returned it if they can't look at what is on your devices?

As an engineer, I have to say that it seems pretty trivial to have a "Delete This Book And Also Send A Notification To The Amazon/B&N/Kobo/Etc. Servers That I Want A Refund Please" button.

Possibly there's some aspect I'm missing as to how the devices work, but it seems like this should be an easy question to resolve.

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by anamardoll

As an engineer, I have to say that it seems pretty trivial to have a "Delete This Book And Also Send A Notification To The Amazon/B&N/Kobo/Etc. Servers That I Want A Refund Please" button.

Possibly there's some aspect I'm missing as to how the devices work, but it seems like this should be an easy question to resolve.

*gasp* You stop that RIGHT NOW. Don't you DARE come interjecting that kind of sense in this kind of thread!

Now back to your room young lady! And think about what you've done!

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by MrsJoseph

*gasp* You stop that RIGHT NOW. Don't you DARE come interjecting that kind of sense in this kind of thread!

Now back to your room young lady! And think about what you've done!

But MOOOOOOoooooommmmmm!! *slinks away*



Am I the only one for whom "go to your room" was a GREAT punishment? I CAN READ!!

[MrsJoseph]

.....

[anamardoll]

I, too, love ellipses, but I hope that doesn't mean I said something wrong/stupid.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

And neither should Sony, Kobo, or Nook. Any device that has a wireless system and that sells books will allow the book seller to potentially remove a book from the device. I have no idea if they have all closed that loop so that they cannot do it. I do know that I back up all of my purchases on my computer so that if someone wants to do it they can and then I can put my book right back on my device.

No, they haven't. Amazon lists the 4 conditions when they will remove your Kindle ebook.

http://consumerist.com/2009/10/amazo...dle-books.html

[rhadin]

Seems to me that you all are missing the primary point: Amazon is your friend and will do you no harm! Keep repeating that (mantra style) and soon you will be transported to ebook heaven where Jeff Bezos will cater to your every ebook whim. Just don't try to grasp one of those whims, because it will disappear into the ether, shades of ...

[CyGuy]

Originally Posted by Fbone

No, they haven't. Amazon lists the 4 conditions when they will remove your Kindle ebook.

The issue is not what conditions or circumstances they might remove a book from your device, the issue is that the ability to do this exists at all. It should simply be unlawful for them to have any access to content on the device at all. They should not be able to even view what is on the device, period.