When you are locked out of your $1000 worth Amazon library.

[Nexutix]

http://consumerist.com/2011/11/amazo...es-shrugs.html

I no longer have access to the nearly $1000 in Kindle content I have purchased. I disputed all of the Amazon credit card charges that I could, however there is still about 10 months of purchases I have lost because of this.

Centralization of your purchases on Amazon servers has its own disadvantages. In a battle to prevent piracy, Amazon has made centrifugation to a point of threshold, where if servers crack down in a calamity or your account becomes "locked"/"on hold" somehow, you lose access to all purchases.

There should be some way to solve this issue. For example, unsigned inaccessible copies of your books should be made available for download and personal storage. Kindle for PC can be made to authorize your account once and it can sign copies of books for your Kindle based on unique code for your device. (Similar to: iTunes signs firmware before installing it on iDevices)

What are your alternatives to this? How do you manage your digital library in crisis-free state?

[geertm]

Originally Posted by Nexutix

http://consumerist.com/2011/11/amazo...es-shrugs.html



Centralization of your purchases on Amazon servers has its own disadvantages. In a battle to prevent piracy, Amazon has made centrifugation to a point of threshold, where if servers crack down in a calamity or your account becomes "locked"/"on hold" somehow, you lose access to all purchases.

There should be some way to solve this issue. For example, unsigned inaccessible copies of your books should be made available for download and personal storage. Kindle for PC can be made to authorize your account once and it can sign copies of books for your Kindle based on unique code for your device. (Similar to: iTunes signs firmware before installing it on iDevices)

What are your alternatives to this? How do you manage your digital library in crisis-free state?

Another lesson that you should always make a backup of your digital content! Never trust a website with the only copy of your digital files.

[banjobama]

Originally Posted by geertm

Another lesson that you should always make a backup of your digital content! Never trust a website with the only copy of your digital files.

Exactly... while it's still wrong of Amazon to basically ignore this person, if he had all of his content stored on his own media, he could say screw Amazon and just cut his losses without having actually lost money on all the books he already bought. I have a hard time feeling bad when people lose stuff they didn't care enough about to back up.

[ProfCrash]

I sure wouldn't let it go for a month without recontacting Amazon. I would call back the next day and say that I have not heard from someone and start moving up the chain of supervisors.

And this is another good reason for you to save your books to your computer and have backups in different places. If this were to happen to me I would have access to 95% of my books.

[Redcard]

Well..

Reading The Consumerist is like watching a biased news station. You know that some elements might be true, and that there are "omissions" of facts.. you just don't know if it's critical omissions or not.

I've been burned by finding out The Truth later on on consumerist things.. so..

Forgive me if I don't grab the pitchforks

[Barbara1955]

How do you back up eBooks you buy on Amazon? I tried Flash drives & CDs! But when I try to open them either on my PC or Kindle they say not there.....

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by geertm

Another lesson that you should always make a backup of your digital content! Never trust a website with the only copy of your digital files.

Exactly. Who on Earth would NOT back up their purchases? This person has behaved very foolishly.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Katie1

How do you back up eBooks you buy on Amazon? I tried Flash drives & CDs! But when I try to open them either on my PC or Kindle they say not there.....

The same way that you back up any other file. Copy it to some storage medium.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by Katie1

How do you back up eBooks you buy on Amazon? I tried Flash drives & CDs! But when I try to open them either on my PC or Kindle they say not there.....

Google Apprentice Alf.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Exactly. Who on Earth would NOT back up their purchases? This person has behaved very foolishly.

I imagine 99% of Kindle users don't back up their purchases.
A major selling point of the Kindle is that (at the time unlike all other eReaders) it didn't need you to use a PC with it.
It is sold as a complete ecosystem, with Amazon storing your files for you.

From the Amazon Kindle page:
"Free Cloud Backup
We automatically back up your library in the cloud, so you never need to worry about losing your books. Re-download wirelessly anytime for free."

[susan_cassidy]

If the copy of the book was DRMed for a Kindle, and you try to open it with Kindle4PC, it will not work. DRM is device/app specific.

[banjobama]

Originally Posted by susan_cassidy

If the copy of the book was DRMed for a Kindle, and you try to open it with Kindle4PC, it will not work. DRM is device/app specific.

Sounds like a great reason to not use their system at all in the first place.

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by banjobama

Sounds like a great reason to not use their system at all in the first place.

How is Adobe DRM any better?

[JoeD]

Originally Posted by banjobama

Exactly... while it's still wrong of Amazon to basically ignore this person, if he had all of his content stored on his own media, he could say screw Amazon and just cut his losses without having actually lost money on all the books he already bought. I have a hard time feeling bad when people lose stuff they didn't care enough about to back up.

Problem is, he'd need to break the law in order to meaningfully backup his books to use in the future. Whilst he could backup the DRM'd versions, they'd only be useful on his current reading device (be it kindle or via the kindle app), amazon not allowing re-downloading to future devices means he'd have to break the DRM to keep using his purchases.

Not everyone is willing to or knows how to do so even if they care about backups.

[ScalyFreak]

Originally Posted by murraypaul

How is Adobe DRM any better?

I can open the file on my 950, my phone, and either one of my three computers?

I'm going to go back up my ebook library now. Be right back.