# When Amazon.com disappears someday, what happens to movies I've "purchased" for instant streaming?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-amazon-com-disappears-someday-what-happens-to-movies-ive-purchased-for-instant-streaming/607313>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 24, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-amazon-com-disappears-someday-what-happens-to-movies-ive-purchased-for-instant-streaming/607313 "2011-12-24T22:34:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\
**Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-amazon-com-disappears-someday-what-happens-to-movies-ive-purchased-for-instant-streaming/607313/21 "2011-12-27T02:52:41Z")

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> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> I’m a little confused that you say people “… are **way** too paranoid about Amazon and Kindle books …”, and then you take exactly the (IMO illegal) precautions someone would take who feared that Amazon would someday renege on their license.
> 
> So which is it? Should one simply use the DRM-licensed books one has leased in accordance with one’s license? Or should one take pre-emptive precautions to convert ones \*content leased with conditions \*into _content owned outright_ just in case?

I don’t expect Amazon to renege on their licence, in fact I expect them to last a long time. Maybe they’ll outlast me. But I’m not psychic and neither is anyone else. I do not expect it to ever be a problem, but I disapprove of DRM in any case so I’m happier without it.

The amount of paranoid hysteria Amazon provoked by their one and only deleting-a-book incident is a guarantee that they won’t be doing anything like that again.

Now, it may or may not be legal to remove the DRM, but it’s perfectly legal to back-up copies of your Kindle books, and in my opinion it’s foolish not to. In case I’m not being clear enough; you can make as many copies of DRMed ebooks as you like and store them anywhere you like. DRM doesn’t prevent you from making copies, it prevents you from opening and reading backed-up copies except on authorised devices/software.

ETA: I mention the backing-up because even if Amazon did remove a book from your Kindle, they can’t touch backed-up copies of the same book in other locations.

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