Kindle Users Sue Over Amazon's Orwellian Deletes

Customers who had their paid-for copies of 1984 and Animal Farm yanked from their Kindles over a copyright issue are taking Amazon to court, InformationWeek reports. The company has apologized for its action and vowed not to repeat it, but the plaintiffs, who include a high school student whose homework was deleted with the book, say the mere fact that Amazon can delete content at will diminishes the value of their Kindles.

"Amazon.com had no more right to hack into people's Kindles than its customers have the right to hack into Amazon's bank account to recover a mistaken overpayment," a lawyer representing the customers said. "Technology companies increasingly feel that because they have the ability to access people's personal property, they have the right to do so. That is 100% contrary to the laws of this country." (More copyright stories.)