Amazon reached out in the night and wirelessly deleted two books from Kindle e-readers everywhere. The books? "`1984" and "Animal Farm". David Pogue of The Times explains:
This morning, hundreds of Amazon Kindle owners awoke to discover that books by a certain famous author had mysteriously disappeared from their e-book readers. These were books that they had bought and paid for—thought they owned
But no, apparently the publisher changed its mind about offering an electronic edition, and apparently Amazon, whose business lives and dies by publisher happiness, caved. It electronically deleted all books by this author from people’s Kindles and credited their accounts for the price.
...
As one of my readers noted, it’s like Barnes & Noble sneaking into our homes in the middle of the night, taking some books that we’ve been reading off our nightstands, and leaving us a check on the coffee table.
You want to know the best part? The juicy, plump, dripping irony?
The author who was the victim of this Big Brotherish plot was none other than George Orwell. And the books were “1984” and “Animal Farm.”
Scary.
If Amazon wants to run the irony meter past the red and off the scale, they should follw up by e-deleting all Kindle copies of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.
Jack Balkin offers some legal musings.
Can Krystlenaught be far behind. When they came for...
Posted by: Gmax | July 18, 2009 at 10:45 AM
It was a copyright - public domain issue. Believe it or not the NYT got the story wrong.
LUN
Posted by: smc1225 | July 18, 2009 at 11:03 AM
These days I am so pumped on irony I'm attracting metal filings.
Posted by: clarice | July 18, 2009 at 11:11 AM
Those Kindle owners are unpersons.
Posted by: DebinNC | July 18, 2009 at 11:13 AM
The replacement version ends like this:
He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Barack Obama.
Posted by: PaulL | July 18, 2009 at 11:35 AM
These days I am so pumped on irony I'm attracting metal filings
That's a pretty funny sentence. btw, congratulations Clarice for being cited in a Weekly Standard article on W Kendall Myers for your research.
Posted by: Captain Hate | July 18, 2009 at 11:39 AM
LOL, Clarice..very good
GMax..too scary..if good people everywhere don't start calling, pardon me, "a spade a spade" Orwell will have become non-fiction, if it isn't already.
Posted by: glenda | July 18, 2009 at 12:23 PM
Irony is also looking at the very culprit displayed under Google Ad on this very page.
Posted by: everett | July 18, 2009 at 12:27 PM
When they came for Glenda's books I was silent, they weren't my books, and when they came for mine I had a 16 clip magazine waiting...
Posted by: Gmax | July 18, 2009 at 12:53 PM
Orwell was only a few years late in his predictions, I'm afraid. We are living in a world of Big Brother, Newspeak, and double think. It encroaches further every day.
Down with revisionism and deconstruction! Burn your Kindle! Read books! Subvert the Obamanoids and media industry!
Posted by: matt | July 18, 2009 at 12:54 PM
Thanks, Capt I didn't see that. I'll have to go look.
Posted by: clarice | July 18, 2009 at 01:33 PM
It's in the 6/22 issue page 13
Posted by: Captain Hate | July 18, 2009 at 01:47 PM
Thanks. I caught it.
Posted by: clarice | July 18, 2009 at 01:49 PM
Have we had a kindling joke for the Fahrenheit 451 conflagration?
Posted by: Start with a bundle of faggots. | July 18, 2009 at 06:52 PM
Would we have to invite ">http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/punk[3]"> punks?
Posted by: daddy | July 19, 2009 at 12:46 AM
Gee, I wonder if this should be listed as "related news"?
http://tinyurl.com/lzr8wv
[link to Popular Science]
Posted by: andycanuck | July 19, 2009 at 07:04 PM
OT, I handled the passing of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and Walter Cronkite fairly well. But this is one celebrity I will mourn, should she pass.....
Posted by: peter | July 20, 2009 at 07:23 AM
Christopher J. Dodd....resign NOW
You have NO business writing this legislation.
We can't trust you.
After lying about your role in AIG bonuses....we can't trust you.
For your role in Fannie and Freddie...for your sweatheart mortgage from Countrywide...for your pay for play Irish cottage....you need to go NOW
The corruption has got to go.
Chris Dodd...resign NOW
Posted by: J. | July 20, 2009 at 06:25 PM