Posted 10/02/09 at 09:44:49 PM by Ryan Whitwam

When Amazon deleted digital copies of Orwell’s 1984 from Kindles, there was a public outcry. Two customers went further and filed a lawsuit against Amazon on September 25th. Now, there is already a settlement in the case. Amazon has agreed to pay the pair $150,000. The settlement may have come quickly in order to prevent a judge from certifying the case for class-action status.

Amazon admitted this summer that it remotely removed two Orwell novels from Kindles after finding out that the books were posted illegally. Affected customers were eventually compensated with a new digital copy of the book, and $30.

The terms of the settlement also stipulate that Amazon can only delete works from Kindles under certain circumstances. A book can only be deleted if a customer agrees to its removal, if a customer requests a refund, or the digital files are found to contain malicious code. So, is this a reasonable policy?

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Posted 09/05/09 at 11:44:36 PM by Pulkit Chandna

In July, Amazon set the cat among the pigeons by remotely deleting digital copies of two George Orwell books from Kindle readers. It took the deplorable step after it realized that unauthorized copies of Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-four and Animal Farm were being sold on the Kindle Store. The ensuing hullabaloo haled Amazon into admitting its stupidity. Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder and CEO, issued a formal apology in an attempt to pacify enraged Kindle users.

Although all remote-deletion victims have already been issued refunds, Amazon is now trying to mend fences with indignant Kindle owners. It has offered to either return the deleted books – along with the annotations they may have contained - for free to affected Kindle users or to present them with gift certificates or checks worth $30 each. “If you do not wish to have us re-deliver the book to your Kindle, you can instead choose to receive an Amazon.com electronic gift certificate or check for $30,” the company said in an email it sent to Kindle owners on Thursday.

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Posted 07/17/09 at 07:02:13 PM by Pulkit Chandna

How much of every Kindle does Amazon own after it is sold? You may be a bit confounded by this question. But every Kindle owner, who downloaded either of George Orwell’s famous books Nineteen Eighty-four or Animal Farm, or both, must have that question on their mind. Amazon left Orwell-doting Kindle owners nonplussed after it remotely deleted the above-mentioned novels from their Kindles.

Although it has sent them a refund, such overbearing behavior on its part can not be brooked. Amazon is said to have acted at the publisher’s behest. Amazon labeled it a “rare” occurrence. The entire episode feels like a harbinger of worse things to follow to this author. Will digital distribution and cloud computing leave us with only nominal ownership rights in the future?

Edit: Update to the situation after the jump. 

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