Is latest Amazon controversy with Kindle Orwell titles just the beginning?

The debacle over Amazon and their decision to remotely remove several George Orwell titles from their Kindle device, from customers who had paid for the books, has sparked a pretty fierce debate online. I’m actually a little surprised at the number of people who have come to Amazon’s defense and even applauded Jeff Bezo’s generic apology.

A lot of people, it seems, are getting hung up on the idea that the ebooks in question were illegally uploaded to Amazon’s system, and therefore, Amazon had every right to delete them from the Kindles and issue a refund. But I think there’s a deeper problem, and a danger lurking in the shadows if something isn’t done.

Let’s face it, Amazon seems to cave in to pressure rather easily. They caved when a writers groups cried and howled over the Kindle 2′s text-to-speech functionality, saying it encroached on their audio book rights. Amazon caved to publishers who demanded the TTS be disabled on many popular titles.  They cave to most publishers who demand strict DRM on their titles.

Add this to Amazon’s ability to remotely access and control the content that you buy (uh, or rent) on your Kindle, and you have a recipe for disaster. According to this New York Times article, I’m not alone in thinking this:

A growing number of civil libertarians and customer advocates wants Amazon to fundamentally alter its method for selling Kindle books, lest it be forced to one day change or recall books, perhaps by a judge ruling in a defamation case — or by a government deciding a particular work is politically damaging or embarrassing.

Think about that for a minute: Amazon being forced to remove titles you buy for your Kindle because of politics, or a defamation case. That is really scary! And as the Kindle starts rolling out in other countries, where citizen protections are more relaxed, the possibilities are even scarier:

Mr. Zittrain predicts that governments in some parts of the world will want to use it “like a line item veto for content,” removing objectionable sentences or chapters in some books.

“It could happen first in jurisdictions like the United Kingdom, where there isn’t as rich a First Amendment tradition and where libel suits happen much more frequently,” he said.

One of the Kindle’s best known features is the ability to purchase and download books wirelessly. Every time you do, you are connecting to a network Amazon controls, which allows them to delete any title they wish right off your device. Yes, a simple solution is to keep the wireless feature turned off, but that defeats it’s purpose, right?

This great feature could end up killing the Kindle if users find their ebooks being manipulated (i.e. deleted, edited, etc) in ways they never agreed to. CEO Jeff Bezos said an incident like what happened with the Orwell titles would never happen again. For some reason I’m having trouble believing him. It was a convenient thing to say at the time. It appeased a lot of people. And Bezos is hoping Kindle users will forget the whole fiasco.

My point is that there will come a point when consumers will say “Enough!” and demand that Amazon leave their ebooks alone. Once an ebook is purchased, that’s it – Amazon shouldn’t be able to touch it, just like when you buy a print book from the local bookstore. If Amazon keeps pushing the envelope like they have, then consumers will move on to a more consumer-friendly device. It’s that simple.

Do you believe that Amazon needs to fundamentally change the way they sell ebooks? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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