Amazon's Gaffe
August 12th 2009 08:18
After seeing an article the other day, I rather glad I didn't go for one. Apparently, in July, without any warning, Amazon remotely deleted a number of book titles from people's personal Kindles. They refunded the money, but there was no 'by your leave' or apology.
And ironically, the two titles that went were George Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984, two books that talk of exactly the kind of thing Amazon has done: high-handed interference by a 'higher power.'
As some have pointed out, taking back something someone has paid for legally, is a most odd approach to retailing. Suppose your butcher or baker came into your house and took back the meat in your fridge or the bread in your bread bin; there'd be a hue and cry. But Amazon seemed to think they could do this without upsetting their customers in the slightest. Odd.
(Perhaps they thought people's Kindles were in need of a bit of a diet as I am at the moment, but lipofuze approach was distinctly unfriendly.)
It turns out that the two books were supplied to Amazon by a company that didn't have the rights to do so, and Amazon says they won't delete books in this manner again. But some reading of the fine print relating to the use of the Kindle seems to suggest that Amazon has some other tricks up its sleeves. One clause states: "Amazon grants you the non-exclusive right to keep a permanent copy of the applicable Digital Content and to view, use, and display such Digital Content an unlimited number of times..." That seems to leave most of the rights in Amazon's hands and not in the customer's.
This would have to be one of the most 'tread-on-the-customer's-toes' approaches Amazon has ever broached. Let's hope it's taught a good, solid lesson.
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