Badin vs. Versailles
Law Enforcement Memorial Day
American Idol 2012 finale
Book Nook provides readers with insights into the world of books. Vick Mickunas takes you into the center of the publishing world with the latest book buzz, book reviews, and exclusive chats with authors..Home > Blogs > Book Nook > Archives > 2009 > September > 07 > Entry
Amazon screws up again….
Amazon.com is the largest on-line bookseller. I think that Amazon is a great company. I follow them closely. When they screw up I notice.
Recently, Amazon had a bit of a public relations disaster relating to their proprietary electronic reading device, the Amazon Kindle. Amazon sells the device directly to consumers who can then purchase downloads of books and various periodicals. (But only, through Amazon.com).
The PR snafu was the result of a situation where Amazon had sold downloads of a couple of George Orwell books, Animal Farm, and 1984. When Amazon realized that they didn’t actually possess the legal copyrights for those books their reaction was quick and stealthy; they electronically deleted those titles from Kindles that had purchased downloads. The irony of Big Brother Amazon reaching out and erasing those books from Kindles was inescapable. Some Kindle users were irate.
Now Amazon has another Kindle PR disaster on their hands. Here it is:
When you buy a Kindle from Amazon.com it is yours, right? Apparently not. According to an article in the New York Times that might not be the case if your device is lost or stolen.
According to the article:
“Samuel Borgese, for instance, is still irate about the response from Amazon when he recently lost his Kindle. After leaving it on a plane, he canceled his account so that nobody could charge books to his credit card. Then he asked Amazon to put the serial number of his wayward device on a kind of do-not-register list that would render it inoperable — to “brick it” in tech speak.
Amazon’s policy is that it will help locate a missing Kindle only if the company is contacted by a police officer bearing a subpoena. Mr. Borgese, who lives in Manhattan, questions whether hunting down a $300 e-book reader would rank as a priority for the New York Police Department.
He began to see ulterior motives when he twice sent e-mail messages to Amazon seeking an address to send a police report and got no reply.
“I finally concluded,” Mr. Borgese said, “that Amazon knew the device was being used and preferred to sell content to anyone who possessed the device, rather than assist in returning it to its rightful owner.”
Drew Herdener, an Amazon spokesman, said only that the company acted in accordance with the law and cooperated with law enforcement officials. “Beyond that, we aren’t going to speculate on hypotheticals,” he wrote in an e-mail message.
The complaints have left Amazon with a new public relations dilemma. In July, when Amazon remotely deleted titles from Kindles, citing copyright reasons, it was accused of heavy-handedness. If the company were to shut down a Kindle that had been erroneously reported as stolen, it might be accused of playing cop, judge and jury. Then again, it is also possible that Amazon is simply avoiding the financial burden of adjudicating claims.”
Amazing, isn’t it? Amazon can remotely access your Kindle and delete whatever they please as far as I can tell, based on these events. They know when Kindles are activated to purchase downloads. They would be aware of who is buying downloads by the credit card number. If that download is being activated by a user who is not the original device purchaser they are not going to worry too much about that, now are they?
After all, the bottom line for Amazon.com it would seem is selling those profitable downloads - even if the purchaser might be using a “borrowed” device.
Get out the pies. Amazon has another big PR pie in their “face” again….
Vick Mickunas
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: in the Amazone
Comments
By vick
September 8, 2009 9:46 AM | Link to this
Jon, that’s an interesting question. By playing dumb or refusing to pay attention in the case of stolen Kindles Amazon is risking a hard earned reputation for providing superior customer service. And, they are damaging their brand. The Kindle is an important part of their strategy. Would you buy one if you knew that Amazon won’t do much to protect you if the device goes missing? I sure wouldn’t…By jon
September 7, 2009 11:49 PM | Link to this
Isn’t possessing information that would solve a crime, adding and abetting?