Comments on: Amazon on the Orwellian episode: We’ll stop the Big Bro Act http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/amazon-on-the-orwellian-episode-well-stop-the-big-bro-act/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:46:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Joe Bruno http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/amazon-on-the-orwellian-episode-well-stop-the-big-bro-act/comment-page-1/#comment-1107503 Joe Bruno Mon, 20 Jul 2009 07:32:56 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/07/18/amazon-on-the-orwellian-episode-well-stop-the-big-bro-act/#comment-1107503 It's just as well that Amazon do not sell the Kindle in the UK, because unauthorized modification of someone else's computer is been a criminal offense under the Computer Misuse Act. It’s just as well that Amazon do not sell the Kindle in the UK, because unauthorized modification of someone else’s computer is been a criminal offense under the Computer Misuse Act.

]]> By: Garson O'Toole http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/amazon-on-the-orwellian-episode-well-stop-the-big-bro-act/comment-page-1/#comment-1106291 Garson O'Toole Sat, 18 Jul 2009 17:21:15 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/07/18/amazon-on-the-orwellian-episode-well-stop-the-big-bro-act/#comment-1106291 The group that posted the unauthorized edition of 1984 has committed a perfect provocation. Winston Smith, the main character in the novel, worked for the Ministry of Truth rewriting history for the government. He would place documents destined for destruction in a slot leading to an incinerator. <a HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html" rel="nofollow">As noted in the New York Times</A>, the slot was called the <a HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_hole" rel="nofollow">memory hole</A>, and Amazon has now revealed that it has implemented an electronic memory hole. This retroactive deletion capability is perilous for consumers. Imagine a dispute between an author and a publisher that requires years to resolve in the court system. Suppose that finally, a judge decides that a publisher illegally acquired the ebook rights to a work. Would Amazon retroactively delete all the extant ebook copies even after a multiyear delay? Suppose the court system rules that a book contains libelous passages. Would an ebook owner wake up one day to find that he now has a sanitized edition with several rewritten sections? This might be an even bigger potential problem with books that are only readable online or books that are stored online in “ebook lockers”. Amazon has apparently been chastened by the reactions of consumers to this debacle. <blockquote>Amazon effectively acknowledged that the deletions were a bad idea. “We are changing our systems so that in the future we will not remove books from customers’ devices in these circumstances,” Mr. Herdener said. </blockquote> Phrases such as “in these circumstances” are notably imprecise. Kindle owners may also wonder if this new policy can be retroactively altered and adjusted just like an Amazon ebook. The group that posted the unauthorized edition of 1984 has committed a perfect provocation. Winston Smith, the main character in the novel, worked for the Ministry of Truth rewriting history for the government. He would place documents destined for destruction in a slot leading to an incinerator. As noted in the New York Times, the slot was called the memory hole, and Amazon has now revealed that it has implemented an electronic memory hole.

This retroactive deletion capability is perilous for consumers. Imagine a dispute between an author and a publisher that requires years to resolve in the court system. Suppose that finally, a judge decides that a publisher illegally acquired the ebook rights to a work. Would Amazon retroactively delete all the extant ebook copies even after a multiyear delay?

Suppose the court system rules that a book contains libelous passages. Would an ebook owner wake up one day to find that he now has a sanitized edition with several rewritten sections? This might be an even bigger potential problem with books that are only readable online or books that are stored online in “ebook lockers”.

Amazon has apparently been chastened by the reactions of consumers to this debacle.

Amazon effectively acknowledged that the deletions were a bad idea. “We are changing our systems so that in the future we will not remove books from customers’ devices in these circumstances,” Mr. Herdener said.

Phrases such as “in these circumstances” are notably imprecise. Kindle owners may also wonder if this new policy can be retroactively altered and adjusted just like an Amazon ebook.

]]> By: Aaron Pressman http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/amazon-on-the-orwellian-episode-well-stop-the-big-bro-act/comment-page-1/#comment-1106268 Aaron Pressman Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:29:04 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/07/18/amazon-on-the-orwellian-episode-well-stop-the-big-bro-act/#comment-1106268 What a waste. Amazon has now done tremendous damage to their Kindle brand with this incident which will no doubt be recounted for years whenever DRM comes up. And some details, like the legality/illegality of the original book listing, are already being distorted (see the 10th comment on the original Teleread post, for example). They never should have done this -- according to the NYT story it wasn't even allowed by their terms of service. Idiotic. What a waste. Amazon has now done tremendous damage to their Kindle brand with this incident which will no doubt be recounted for years whenever DRM comes up. And some details, like the legality/illegality of the original book listing, are already being distorted (see the 10th comment on the original Teleread post, for example).

They never should have done this — according to the NYT story it wasn’t even allowed by their terms of service. Idiotic.

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