I think that Amazon just killed the kindle.

The kindle is an $300 ebook reader based on the amazing E-ink technology and like the Android market, users are able to buy books, blogs and magazines wirelessly without the need for a computer.  The Guardian is reporting that users are protesting Amazon deleting books from their kindles without telling them.

If there was a darwin awards for killing digital products then Amazon has just won the star prize.  This is the digital equivalent of breaking into the users’ houses and taking back all their copies of the “hummingbird cupcake cookbook” and leaving £8.49 on their tables as they walked out.

Users have already started revolting against this decision and  are complaining on twitter, and posting 1 star reviews on the amazon Kindle Dx’s webpage.

One user review:

The Kindle has the ability to remotely remove books you’ve purchased (at Amazon’s whim). This recently occurred with the books 1984 and Animal Farm.

I would not purchase this product at any price.

Amazon have already come back and said that they are looking to change their terms to prevent this in the future, however the damage could already be done.  Like in the book “1984″, they could be facing a rebellion, which could put Amazons’ reputation on the line.  Amazon have made no secret of their intention to bring the Kindle to the UK.  Based on the above, I will be staying well away and sticking to good old fashioned print and RSS.

As with the Kindle, could an app publisher developer delete their app from your device if bought through Android Market?

No, Under Google’s s  Android Market developer distribution agreement (Clause 7.1 ) developers can only remove apps from “future distribution” so your downloaded apps are yours but……

Could Google remotely delete something you purchased from Android Market?

Luckily to date, there hasn’t been a reason to , but in short, YES!  -  Google’s mobile business policies clearly say( under point 2)  that if an application breaches the Android Market developer distribution agreement they could remove the app from your device without your consent or alerting you.

Grounds for removal are the following: (Reference Clause 7.2 of the developer agreement)

1. violates the intellectual property rights or any other rights of any third party
2. violates any applicable law or is subject to an injunction;
3. is pornographic, obscene or otherwise violates Google’s hosting policies
4. is being distributed improperly;
5. may create liability for Google or Authorized Carriers;
6. violates the terms of this Agreement or the Market Content Policy for Developers
7. the display of the Product is impacting the integrity of Google servers (i.e., users are unable to access such content or otherwise experience difficulty),
8. is deemed by Google to have a virus or is deemed to be malware, spyware

All the cases above seem pretty fair and straight forward, and frankly without having that in place, Google would not be able to offer the Android Market service. We are all waiting for the first application to come out that tests the above points. When it does I hope Google will be more forthcoming  to users, than Amazon was.

People value their privacy and their phones are an important part of that. Playing cavalier with users applications that they have purchased is not something that should be taken lightly.  Allowing a publisher to just take things back unilaterally without telling users is frankly unforgivable and just shows how little Amazon value their end user customers.Amazon should have been standing up for end users who have purchased their products and not giving in to publishers whims. Amazon are going to be punished for this, I hope that the Google people are paying attention and won’t make the same mistakes.

Users are protesting Amazon deleting purchased books (ironically 1984 )without informing them.

Related posts:

1. Sony gives its customers a 50GB box for Christmas!
2. Why Kindle might be the Android Tablet Killer
3. Android gets ready to Play