The Kindle and E-Book Ownership Rights

*Originally published on 7/31/09



If you haven't read by now, Amazon has thrown itself into a veritable poo storm by, without warning, going into people's Kindles and taking back copies of books due to a copyright snafu over ownership rights. If you read the Amazon reviews, you will see post after post blasting the decision saying that Amazon is robbing you of your rights (though I suspect that 4 or 5 people are just posting repeatedly given the fact that several of the reviews of the Kindle read almost exactly the same).

I was considering buying a Kindle myself. I have a lot of books and live in an apartment, where space isn't exactly in excess. I wouldn't mind clearing all that out and having all my books in one handheld device. Evidently, it was supposed to be cheaper to buy books through the device than it was to buy them in paperback, so for hardcore readers, the somewhat high cost of the device would've been made up by savings on reading material.

Things went down the toilet when Bezos, head of Amazon, decided to repossess books already purchased because evidently they didn't have the right to sell them in the first place. Customers were credited for the cost of the books, but that didn't do much to ease their anger. The books in question were 1984 and Animal Farm. Others have already commented on the irony. You have to admit, it's pretty funny, of all the books to go take, they decided to take 1984.

Bezos has already apologized and come out and said that it was a stupid move that was badly handled. Many say that's not enough. Here's the thing, I'd like to believe that it was an isolated incident. Everyone who complains only cites those two books so it doesn't seem like a common occurrence. Seeing as I have both books, I could easily just get the device and digitize all but those two books with little trouble.

It does, however, set a terrible precedent and the reviewers are right to be cautious about buying the device now. Why should we shell out 300 bucks and then pay on top of that for the books if we don't even know for certain whether they're ours or not? Remember how I said that it was cheaper to download the books than it was to buy them? According to some, it's actually the same if not more expensive to buy the e-book, this is hearsay I'll admit, but if this is the case, the appeal of the Kindle is dwindling quickly.

Trust is a tricky thing. Some say that detractors need to get over it and that it was an honest mistake. This may well be the case, but it's going to take time for them to prove it. One has to wonder though, if they never had any intention of reclaiming the books, why put that capability in the system in the first place. I know that legal issues came up, but you could have easily just made it no longer available for purchase. The people who bought it could keep their copies and no one else would be able to buy an illegal copy of the book.

Digital distribution of media is a big money maker. Itunes and Xbox Live do pretty well offering products for download. The beauty with these is that they recognize that by paying for something that transfers ownership, it's how the whole transaction process works. If I want to pay to rent books I'll join booksfree.com, or I could just get a library card at least they're up front about the fact that the book is only being borrowed.

I want the Kindle to be successful. It seems like a product with a boatload of potential, but they need to straighten up. It might take some time for them to earn the consumers' trust, but down the line I could see this viewed as nothing more than a "strike one", a fairly big strike granted, but a first strike nonetheless.