Amazon.com Sued Over Deleted Kindle Content
Amazon has succeeded in convincing many customers that the electronic reader Kindle is a high-tech alternative to the public library. Now, the online retail giant has to deal with the case of the disappearing books.
A class action suit filed on Thursday by Chicago-based law firm KamberEdelson claims that Amazon violated terms of use when they deleted electronic copies of George Orwell’s ‘1984’ and ‘Animal Farm’ from consumers’ Kindle devices. The suit was filed on behalf of two plaintiffs in the U.S. District Court in Seattle. A 17-year-old Michigan high school student named Justin Gawronski says that he saw his copy of 1984 and copious notes “vanish before his very eyes” as he was attempting to complete a summer homework assignment. “It was a bit ironic,” Gawronski told the Wall Street Journal.
Gawronski and the other plaintiff, Antoine Bruguier say that Amazon had no right to access and delete digital content from their customers’ devices. Gawronski had purchased his copy of Orwell’s classic in June for $0.99, and says he never received an explanation for the unexpected deletion. “Amazon has no more right to delete e-books from consumers’ Kindles than it does to retrieve from its customers’ homes paper books it sells and ships to consumers,” the lawsuit claims.
Bruguier said that he complained repeatedly to Amazon after losing his copy of ‘1984.’ He asked that an authorized version be restored to his Kindle after discovering the reason for the original deletion. “I thought that once purchased, the books were mine,” he wrote.
The Seattle-based company explained that the books had been deleted after finding out that a company that didn’t own the rights had sold them. After deleting the books, Amazon claims, they refunded customers’ money. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos apologized for the company’s actions, calling the incident “stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles.”
It is not yet clear how Amazon will handle similar copyright scenarios in the future. The lawsuit alleges that Amazon violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by intentionally accessing the plaintiffs’ Kindles without authorization. The complaint specifies that “Amazon’s conduct has caused at least $5,000 in value in real economic damages. Unless restrained and enjoined, Amazon will continue to commit such acts.”
The lawyers are applying for class action status so that other book-lacking plaintiffs can pursue damages against Amazon.com. The KamberEdelson law firm plans to donate any proceeds from the litigation to charity. ”All of those people need the injunctive relief to prevent Amazon from doing this in the future,” said the prosecuting lawyer, Jay Edelson.
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