Just a Minute!

It's 2009, but Amazon.com is stuck in 1984 (7/27/09)

     Amazon.com CEO Jeffrey Bezos apologized this week for acting like Big Brother in George Orwell’s novel, “1984.”

     The sweet irony is that Bezos was apologizing to people who’d bought digital copies of Orwell’s book for their Kindle readers. Turns out Amazon got versions of “1984” and “Animal Farm” from a supplier who didn’t have rights to them.

     And so, like a thief in the night, Amazon removed the titles from the virtual bookshelves of Kindle owners who actually thought they owned the e-books.

     In admitting the blunder, Bezos said: “Our ‘solution’ to the problem was stupid, thoughtless and painfully out of line with our principles.”

     One presumes the reclaimed e-books have been sent down the memory hole to the virtual burn pile, lest they fall into the wrong hands again. (Is this how Kindle got its name?)

     The public relations lesson is that the Amazon thought police should have provided customers with legal versions of the Orwell books – no matter the cost – or some other form of restitution consistent with such an egregious invasion of privacy.

     But the real message may be that Big Brother is not only watching, he has the keys to your house.

JUST A MINUTE! is a weekly essay intended to be read in about 60 seconds. Find more online at seattlepostglobe.org.