When Norwegian Linn Nygaard complained to her friend Martin Bekkelund that Amazon had closed her account and denied her access to her ebook library, she surely wasn’t expecting the furore that has unfolded over the last 24 hours. Luckily for Nygaard, however, posts from BoingBoing, The Guardian, GigaOm, Computer World and others put enough pressure on Amazon for them to fix at least part* of the problem.
Computer World’s Simon Phipps explains that Nygaard bought a Kindle in the UK which she used for a while then gave to her mum. She replaced it with a second Kindle bought from a Danish classifieds site and bought ebooks using her Norwegian address and credit card. When the device developed a fault, “she called Amazon customer service, and they agreed to replace it if she returned it, although they insisted on shipping the replacement to a UK address rather to her in Norway.”
At this point, however, instead of organising a way for her to return the faulty device, Amazon sent a series of vague but threatening emails accusing her of having abused Amazon policies. They also closed her account. She then found that she couldn’t access her ebook library.
Bekkelund reproduces the email exchange in full, and it makes for disturbing reading. The emails from Amazon are Kafkaesque in their repetitive lack of detail, unwillingness to explain exactly what had happened and why, and threats of future action should Nygaard try to open a new account. Indeed, when she asks for clarification, Amazon simply says:
We regret that we have not been able to address your concerns to your satisfaction. Unfortunately, we will not be able to offer any additional insight or action on these matters.
We wish you luck in locating a retailer better able to meet your needs and will not be able to offer any additional insight or action on these matters.
Thank you for your attention to this email.
Just before midnight last night, 22 October, Nygaard contacted Phipps to let him know that her account had been re-activated and that she was now once again able to download her books. Shortly after that, in the small hours of this morning, Amazon wrote to Phipps:
We would like to clarify our policy on this topic. Account status should not affect any customer's ability to access their library. If any customer has trouble accessing their content, he or she should contact customer service for help. Thank you for your interest in Kindle.
For me there are two issues here:
- Amazon’s authoritarian approach to customer service
- The status of digital goods ‘bought’ from etailers
Regards the first point, I can only agree with Nick Harkaway that Amazon’s behaviour is bewildering and needlessly aggressive.
As for the second, well, this is a timely reminder that we do not own the ebooks we ‘buy’ from the likes of Amazon and other etailers. As the Guardian points out:
According to Amazon's Kindle Store terms of use, "Kindle content is licensed, not sold". Should you attempt to break the DRM security block or transfer your purchase to another device, Amazon may legally "revoke your access to the Kindle Store and the Kindle Content without refund of any fees."
The fact that Amazon was capable of and did restore Nygaard’s account and access to her library indicates that it was not some sort of fault with the device that cut her off from her ebooks. (Though if anyone knows different, leave a comment.) Amazon did revoke access, deliberately, without explanation or recourse.
Was it the media coverage that forced Amazon to re-open Nygaard’s account? If this happened to someone whose story wasn’t picked up by the media, would Amazon simply cut them off and walk away?
This rather makes me wonder if Amazon is guilty of misselling or false advertising. By using phrases like “Buy now with 1-Click” and by presenting the Kindle edition of a book alongside hardcovers and paperbacks as if it is a digital equivalent, Amazon leads any normal, rational person to believe that they actually are taking ownership of the digital file. And ownership, for most people, implies that they will have the file in perpetuity, just like they have a paperback in perpetuity (ignoring fire, flood and acts of dog).
Except the Ts&Cs are unambiguous: You do not own the ebooks that you download from Amazon, you are licensing them, and that licence can be summarily rescinded at any time. Surely Amazon, and other etailers, should be using language like “licence now” instead of “buy now”? That would certainly make it clearer to their customers that the playing field is not level and that handing over money for ebooks comes with the risk that one day Amazon might wipe your library.
* It is not clear at this point whether Amazon will still replace Nygaard's faulty Kindle.
