1984 George Orwell and the Kindle

[David Munson]

On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 11:00 PM, Alan Dayley <alandd at consultpros.com>wrote:

> On Fri, Jul 17, 2009 at 5:02 PM, Bob Elzer<bob.elzer at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Apparently if you bought the George Orwell book 1984 on amazon for your
> > kindle, you actually became part of the story today.
> >
> > Amazon deleted the books from your kindle, without permission because the
> > publisher changed it's mind about the offering.
> >
> > Even after you already purchased it. You got your money back of course.
> >
> > But to me this is just theft. Just the same as buying something at sears,
> > and them coming to your house and taking it back in the middle of the
> night.
> >
> > There is all sorts of wrong with this.
> >
> > Here's the link
> >
> http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/some-e-books-are-more-equal-than-o
> > thers/
>
> Amazing.  The holy grail of publishing: licensing for a limited time
> and the ability to pull it back when wanted.
> - No more need to go through the work of releasing a new edition of a
> text book, just take it away from everyone at the end of the semester!
> - Make people sign in to their reader and charge for each different
> person that reads the same book.  Sue anyone who gives out their
> password.
>
> There is a story somewhere out there on the web about a possible
> future.  A future where a guy risks prison by sharing his textbook
> reader password with his new girlfriend so she can study for her
> classes.  I think it was authored by Richard Stallman back in the
> 1980's.  I can't find it or I'd give a link.  More and more it is
> prophetic.
>
> We're getting there.  If the public does not raise outcry over this
> latest move, we're at the threshold of such a world.
>
> There really are two sides at battle here.  Information control for
> profit and information freedom for benefit.  Digital technology
> requires those who would control to take extreme measures.  They stand
> out in stark relief against the freedoms of information we have (had?)
> in the recent past.
>
> Alan
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There's been some updates to the story... it's not that the publisher
changed it's mind, it's that the publisher never had the rights to the books
in the first place. Amazon says "holy crap that was dumb and we won't be
doing it again."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html?_r=1
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