With the deletions of books from the Kindle store, along with already purchased books from individuals Kindle's, and that's the most bizarre thing I have ever encountered, it has been a most mind-boggling week. As a business practice, the removal of material from a person's privately owned Kindle just reeks of Big Brotherism. As an individual I would be out raged that, a company with which I do business has not only the ability, but also the audacity to reach out and take back something I purchased from them.
That Kindle is my property, not theirs. I paid for it and the stories it contains, not Amazon. The road to my Amazon should be one way, from them to me. Before they sent the item to my Kindle, they should know whether my credit card transaction has been accepted, that's what happens at all the other stores with which I do business. There should be absolutely no reason for them to invade my privacy.
And, that's what it is, an invasion of privacy, a violation of one my basic civil rights, my right to privacy, as guaranteed by the Constitution. At least in the United States it is, unless there have been changes I'm not aware of.
It would also seem the deletions were highly selective. Why? (I doubt we will ever get an answer from Amazon)
Just a while ago, there was a mass deletion of gay and lesbian stories from the store and peoples Kindles. It took a lawsuit to replace people personal property and part of the deal was that Amazon would never do it again. Someone at Amazon must feel they are above the law when it comes to personal property rights. Why?
Now we are at another crossroads with Amazon and Kindles. The topic of concern is now incest. Why? At last count, only a percentage of titles available on the Kindle have been deleted. Why? At my last count, about an hour ago, there are still 812 eBook titles dealing with incest still available for down load on the Kindle. Why, if there is a campaign against all incest do they only delete a portion of the titles available?
Why only these authors and one publishing house? Why only them? I don't have the answers, only speculation.
Now all this leads to the question, what's next?
Under age sex, Amazon has 54 titles available, 50 of which are available via the Kindle Store.
Bestiality, Amazon has 16 titles available for the Kindle.
There has already been an attack on Gay and Lesbian stories, but Amazon still has 3,137 Lesbian titles for the Kindle and 7,175 Gay titles for the Kindle.
BDSM, Amazon has 2,365 titles for the Kindle.
Cheating Wives, Amazon has 58 titles for the Kindle.
Cuckold, Amazon has 128 titles for the Kindle.
So, which category of eBooks will Amazon attack next? Which stories will Amazon decide the public shouldn't read? Or which group bumping Amazon will decided?
While I do believe it is the right of Amazon to decide what they sell, I do not believe it is Amazons right to steal what I have already legally purchased from me. What they are doing is theft on a grand scale and if I did what they have done, I would be in jail.
Jeff, get your people under control before they land you in jail. There is no other retailer that can come into my house and take back an item I purchased legally. None. Why does Amazon feel they have the right? Some arduous fine print on a computer screen, that nobody reads in the first place? Your company has been sued in the past, I see another suit in your future.
Update: Amazon has since stated on their customer forum:
Technical issue, I believe that one. Don't you?“Due to a technical issue, for a short window of time three books were temporarily unavailable for re-download by customers who had previously purchased them. When this was brought to our attention, we fixed the problem and those books were once again made available for re-download. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
