AfterDawn: News

Defective By Design targets Amazon's Kindle in new petition

Following the recent issue surrounding the deletion of George Orwell works (1984, Animal Farm) from users' Kindle readers, anti-DRM activists Defective By Design has targeted the device with a new petition. The text of the petition reads...

We believe in a way of life based on the free exchange of ideas, in which books have and will continue to play a central role. Devices like Amazon's are trying to determine how people will interact with books, but Amazon's use of DRM to control and monitor users and their books constitutes a clear threat to the free exchange of ideas.

That is why we readers, authors, publishers, and librarians demand that Amazon remove all DRM, including any ability to control or access the user's library, from the Kindle.



Amazon's assurances that it will refrain from the worst abuses of this power do not address the problem. Amazon should not have this power in the first place. Until they give it up they will be tempted to use it, or they could be forced to by governments or narrow private interests. Whatever Amazon's reasons for imposing this control may be, they are not as important as the public's freedom to use books without interference or supervision.

The petition already has a few recognizable signatures listed on the right-hand side of the message. To sign the petition, visit it at defectivebydesign.org/amazon1984

Written by: James Delahunty @ 6 Aug 2009 16:24

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• 4 comments

• llongtheD

  If they did indeed delete these books, then there was pressure on amazon to do so. These books are decidedly anti-government in nature, and amazon still sells these books in print form. Why delete the electronic version?
  This is exactly what is scary about an electronic version of something, it can just simply vanish. I myself would rather have the physical copy anyway.
  If we still believe in freedom, then we should have free and un-restricted access to thoughts and ideas. No matter who it might offend, especially the people in power.
  

  If your fish seems sick, put it back in the water.

  6.8.2009 23:44 #1

• varnull

  That's the irony of all this.. of all books to remove 1984.. the one which warns of this in the future is probably the one which will catch the most attention..
  
  It again comes down to this ridiculous "copyright" situation. Eric Blair.. the owner of the IP has been dead for years. HOW should somebody still be profiting from his work? and more importantly perhaps.. why should they be allowed to??.. and stopping others sharing it freely or attempting to in places where the copyright has already expired? .. hey Amazon.. like other USA businesses you will find out your Big Brother tactics will lead to your eventual downfall.. For me I will continue to pirate my e-books.. because I know they are mine.. and they are never from living authors anyway.. I steal nothing from the creators.
  
  You can buy these books from yard sales.. and from second hand book stores.. the "copyright" holders see nothing from those sales.. so what the company who provided these books apparently didn't have "license" to them.. they were apparently scans.. which shows the source was a second hand copy or one which had been paid for at some time.. As long as they have not changed the "original cover" then they are free to sell, lend, or do whatever without breaking any copyright as printed on the actual physical item.. hahahahaha
  
  don't buy from amazon.. sign the petition instead.
  
  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/techno...mazon.html?_r=2
  
  ppw - member EFF

  7.8.2009 00:02 #2

• KillerBug

  It seems like everything about the Kindle is designed to make people hate amazon...It's price is far higher than production cost, it is unrealiable and easily broken, the prices of books are very high, and the books can be deleted (or even modified) remotely at any time...by Amazon, a copyright holder, a Government, or even a talented hacker!
  
  I hate to encourage vandalism, but I think it would be wonderfull if a hacker broke into amazon's servers and deleted every book on every device...then Amazon might be forced to do things right. Not that I'm condoning it or anything...it destruction of data is always bad.
  
  
  
  

  7.8.2009 00:39 #3

• Gnawnivek

  Originally posted by KillerBug: It seems like everything about the Kindle is designed to make people hate amazon...It's price is far higher than production cost, it is unrealiable and easily broken, the prices of books are very high, and the books can be deleted (or even modified) remotely at any time...by Amazon, a copyright holder, a Government, or even a talented hacker!
  
  I hate to encourage vandalism, but I think it would be wonderfull if a hacker broke into amazon's servers and deleted every book on every device...then Amazon might be forced to do things right. Not that I'm condoning it or anything...it destruction of data is always bad.
  
  
  
  Twisted thinking... But it's your right to express your evil plans.
  Quote:
  It's price is far higher than production cost,
  
  So is everything else, your point being?
  
  Quote:
  it is unrealiable and easily broken,
  
  i don't know where you get unreliable from, i don't have problems with my Kindle. Easily broken? Well, take good care of it like any other electronic gadgets.
  
  Quote:
  the prices of books are very high,
  
  Better than Sony's price and cheaper than real books.
  
  Quote:
  and the books can be deleted (or even modified) remotely at any time...by Amazon, a copyright holder, a Government, or even a talented hacker!
  
  I'm not defending Amazon on this one, but they had to fix the "1984" book problem. Anyway, we all know there's no true FREEDOM. Everything has to have some sort of control/restriction. I'm not a big fan of censorship/restrictions, but everything has exceptions. Just use common sense i guess, e.g. in a crowded movie theater, you can't just shout "fire!" for your own amusement...
  As to hacker? Nothing is impossible, but what that has to do with the Kindle? If hackers destroyed the Kindle library on Amazon's servers, then what prevents them from not doing similar actions to people's bank accounts?

  13.8.2009 10:49 #4