Why am I writing on a Sunday morning about the impossibility of owning anything in digital format today? First, because I believe users should never lose sight of their real situation, and second... because Amazon decided to modify the language associated with book purchases in its Kindle ecosystem. Although this detail already existed in the terms of use, Amazon now warns US users that they only obtain a license to access the content.
The Kindle universe brings a couple of novelties. The first is that Amazon will discontinue the "Download & Transfer via USB" function, which allows downloading books to a computer and then transferring them via a physical connection. Basically, Amazon wants to close a very popular loophole to dump our books to a PC and blow its DRM to pieces. Of course, there are other methods (which we won't explore this time), but if anyone wants to use that system, the deadline is February 26. And the second is something we already knew, but which has started to be exposed in recent months: If you buy a book for Kindle, you don't own it..
Kindle books are "content licenses"
It was The eBook Reader who discovered the change. Apparently, the notice is present both on the website and in Kindle stores and its apps. Nathan also confirmed that the text has been limited to US territory, since he visited Amazon UK and Amazon Canada, but saw nothing similar. That brings us back to the AB-2426 law passed by the state of California, which moderates the use of expressions like "buy" or "purchase" when receiving a license.
So far, it seems Amazon simply adapted its language to legal requirements, but others haven't done the same yet. Nathan points out that neither Kobo nor Apple warn the user, and Google only mentions the license a step before confirming the purchase. In short, we'll pay for everything, and we won't own anything... once again..
Sources: The eBook Reader, Android Police
