I think the question posed in the OP is whether there’s any danger from installing the app, not the merits of buying ebooks in the Kindle format.
I have the Kindle PC application, and I see no reason to believe it has any effect on my system beyond allowing me read media I bought from Amazon. It’s not a system-level thing, it has no effect on any other media.
It would mean the bits constituting the ebook are within your control, on hardware you own or on backup services that you pay for, and not subject to arbitrary recall from Amazon. Amazon’s method is more akin to a rental, where they have the technical capability to remotely destroy the information you thought you owned so that you can no longer access it.
That they CAN is a statement of fact. That they WOULD is debatable – both times they only made amends because of the public outcry. Suspicion and distrust supported by recent evidence is not paranoia; it’s good common sense and reasonable caution.
It’s unlikely that they would renege on their word after having learned their lesson the first time, but the risk is non-zero.
As long as the DRM is in place, the e-books are within Amazon’s control and you are just lucky enough that they allow you to read them – for now.
Well, the physical bits are within your control. The e-book exists as a file on whatever device you’re reading it one (PC, Kindle), and that file can be freely moved, copied, or backed up. But Amazon’s DRM does control who can open and read that file.
The part of Der Trihs’s claim that I found unbelievable is that they might have already done so without anyone noticing. Are you claiming they can do that?
What about the legal aspect of things? Would Amazon legally be allowed to prevent your access to an e-book you’d legitimately purchased from them? Is there anything in writing that settles this one way or the other—a contract that essentially says either “This is only a rental” or “You have rights to this book in perpetuity”?
Of course; if you didn’t happen to be looking for that particular book it could be a long time before you noticed it was missing. And even longer before you noticed if it was replaced with a censored or altered version. Are you assuming that they’d announce it?
Can you cite the “implied license”? Are these books in the public domain? Or are you talking about buying the latest paperback and then finding a “free” version on line, and are saying that because you bought the paperback you have rights to the on line version as well?
I would love that to be true but am about 99% positive that is considered piracy.
We’re arguing semantics. The point is that unless you circumvent the DRM, your ability to read the book you paid for depends entirely on Amazon’s whims.
Maybe, maybe not.
But by the time people notice, they’d have already lost access to their books – as was the case with 1984. Without stripping the DRM, the only protection Kindle readers have for their books is the risk of negative PR for Amazon.
If Amazon censors something that isn’t controversial enough to cause an outcry, say bye-bye. You’ll probably get a refund, but the content would be gone.
I think – and hope, as a Kindle customer myself – that this won’t happen again, but the risk is always going to be there unless you strip the DRM. It need not be a dealbreaker, just something to be aware of.
Good question. I don’t know.
I haven’t heard of any similar circumstances (remote wipe or DRM deactivation of purchased content) actually being tested in court, but maybe someone else knows?
It’s very easy to back up everything to your computer, and I believe that it is considered legal to strip DRM from files you own if the format is no longer commercially supported. So if Amazon goes out of business you can legally (and very easily from what I’ve read; never tried it myself) get access to your books.
It’s true that Amazon has the technical ability to delete or bar access to your content if you connect your Kindle to the internet (which you don’t have to do to download or access books). They also archive the books you get from them as well as all your notes (if you want) and lets you redownload them whenever you want. I’ve personally lost, mislaid, spilled coffee on, worn out through use, allowed to mildew in storage and otherwise lost access to hundreds or thousands of times more different paper books than Amazon has deleted, censored, stolen or barred access to for all its users anywhere ever. That’s a record I fully expect to hold for the foreseeable future even if I never lose or damage another paper book for the rest of my life. I also expect my entire Kindle book collection to last longer than the vast majority of my paperback books, which, even if I leave them on my shelf, will eventually yellow and deteriorate with age.
As for the idea that Amazon has already altered people’s collections without anyone noticing, I find that extremely unlikely. There are more than enough Kindle users who read and keep track of everything they download that someone would notice as soon as Amazon tried something. I’m pretty sure I’ve even heard of people backing up everything to their computer and running automatic file comparisons to check that nothing’s been changed! It’s possible that Amazon’s been changing or deleting people’s books surreptitiously and no one’s caught them yet only in exactly the same way it’s possible that the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks controls a secret world government that runs everything.
Personally, I prefer Kindle books to paper books by far, and would continue buying them preferentially, even if they were always more expensive. But even if you don’t like ebooks, not buying them because you don’t trust Amazon makes only slightly more sense than keeping your money in suitcase because you don’t trust banks. It’s not only rather silly on the face of it, but has its own costs that you’re implicitly discounting because it justifies your personal preferences.