Fahrenheit451 “Is the Kindle potentially a censor’s friend?” I asked—given that everything focuses around Amazon and is centralizd. Should the publishing industry be so reliant on one company?

I’ve not the only one with such fears. David Berlind, a ZDNet blogger, has even made a Fahrenheit 451 reference. Plus, the Kindle has built-in spyware to make sure you’re a good boy and don’t pirate. It also can closely track your reading. One way to make sure you don’t read banned books?

Now Ronald K.L. Collins, an ex-Judicial Fellow with the U.S. Supreme Court, warns that the Kindle’s use or wireless might someday lead to FCC regulation of e-books.

“So emboldened, the FCC could one day go after e-books like, say, The Essential Lenny Bruce or an illustrated version of D.H. Lawrence’s novel Women in Love — to protect our children, of course,” he writes.

What do you think, gang?

And a P book angle: Are p-books safe, either? I can recall doing a net.activism guide that one of the chain stores feared would be too problematic in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing. Apparent result? No guide. It’s all something for Hollywood and the publishing world to ponder when they ask for insanely Draconian copyright laws.

Same for conglomerates asking for the right to own more TV stations.  The more dependent content providers are on the goodwill of the government, the greater risk of Big Bro. As much as I want a well-stocked national digital library system, I want decent bypass mechanisms in place in the private sector since I take it for granted that Washington will censor.

Related: Manybooks.net’s section devoted to free e-copies of banned books, including The Adventures of Huckelberry Finn. No joke. I once went to an intermediate school where the principle—luckily, years after I’d left—-wanted the Huck or another Twain book banned or at least depicted as racist.

(Found via MobileRead.)

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5 COMMENTS

  1. The real issue as I see it is not censorship of content (although that probably is a concern) but state regulatory power over methods to share infringing content. Kindle is probably a special case because the seller/manufacturer is providing wireless access as part of the product. In this case, it concerns not merely state regulation but the ability of a product seller to limit the use of its network. (Presumably if consumers had the ability to download pirated content unencumbered, they would buy fewer Amazon ebooks).

  2. Alas, Robert, D.C. might not just stop at wireless. Quite objectively, America is becoming more KGBish, as shown by increased surveillance going far beyond the understandable need to fight terrorism. Let’s hope the country will change directions soon. As important as I believe is the issue of copyright, the First Amendment as a whole counts even more. David

  3. So, this morning (July 22, 2009)on MSNBC a reporter indicated that Kindle had pulled Orwell’s Animal Farm. Amazon went on to state that they had the right since a user did not purchase the book, but rather purchased the right to read it. Even with a refund this sounds mighty “Orwellian”. It is downright scary if true.

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