[Solar-general] Fwd: Kindle Context 1: Amazon Can Brick It

[Diego Saravia]

> http://consumerist.com/5213774/amazon-can-ban-you-from-your-kindle-account-whenever-it-likes


Amazon Can Ban You From Your Kindle Account Whenever It Likes


By Chris Walters, 6:41 PM on Wed Apr 15 2009, 11,771 views


Amazon can ban you from your Kindle account whenever it likesAmazon
recently banned a customer for making what they considered too many
returns, and when they did this they also disabled his Kindle account,
although the returns were never related to Kindle purchases. So what
happens when your Kindle account is taken away? Your Kindle still
works, and the books you already bought for it will work, but you
can't download those books ever again (better have made a backup on
your PC!), you can't receive your magazine, blog, or newspaper
subscriptions on it anymore, you can't email documents to Amazon to
have them converted and sent to your Kindle, and you can't buy any new
books for the device. That $360 device only works so long as Amazon
decides it will work.

That's the nasty thing about DRM—it prevents you from really owning
things you've purchased. On ChannelWeb, Brian Sheinberg notes that
this particular user got his Kindle access back as a one-time
courtesy, but Amazon reserves the right to semi-brick it again if they
like:

   Furthermore, it seems that Amazon's policies and user
   agreements allow for this kind of action (although there
   are no specific policies for its canceling an account in
   the first place). So, is this now a case of buyer
   beware? Will all those people who read the agreement and
   warned of such possibilities end up having the last "I
   told you so" laugh?

   Ultimately, the user appealed to Amazon and it
   reinstated his account noting that "if a higher-than-
   acceptable number of concession incidents occur in the
   future" they will ban him again. Although this
   particular incident worked out for the user, it is still
   a bit frightening that a company can unilaterally make
   such a decision. Of course, it would be technically
   possible for Amazon to allow banned users to continue
   accessing their Kindle accounts, but they chose not to
   go that route and, based on its user agreement, Amazon
   doesn't have to.

So say you own a Kindle—is there any way to protect yourself from
this? Only by breaking the agreement you made when you bought books
for your Kindle. Tech-savvy, determined Googlers can figure out how to
remove the DRM on the texts so that they can be read on any device. At
this point, as long as Amazon insists on putting DRM on every ebook it
sells, it's the only way to guarantee your ownership.

"Returning Product To Amazon Could Brick Your Kindle" [Channel Web]
(Thanks to dboz!)
> http://www.crn.com/retail/216500680;jsessionid=I2B2LZNY4U2PEQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN

" Amazon has banned my account - my Kindle is now a (partial) brick"
[MobileRead]
> http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44350&highlight=amazon+banning




-- 
Diego Saravia
Diego.Saravia en gmail.com
NO FUNCIONA->dsa en unsa.edu.ar