Comments on: Amazon’s Orwellian Behavior http://www.licensinghandbook.com/2009/07/18/amazons-orwellian-behavior/ The companion site to the Software Licensing Handbook Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:13:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: Brian K. Stanley http://www.licensinghandbook.com/2009/07/18/amazons-orwellian-behavior/comment-page-1/#comment-858 Brian K. Stanley Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:34:38 +0000 http://www.licensinghandbook.com/?p=1070#comment-858 To me, it is very clear that -- assuming at least $5000 worth of e-books were deleted -- Amazon and its contractors and employees involved in the deletion have committed the felony denounced by 18 USC 1030. Each Kindle is a protected computer, and Amazon intentionally accessed each and caused the impairment of the availability of data stored on each, without authorization. If some teenage hacker had done the same thing as a prank, the FBI would be leading him away in handcuffs. Amazon does it as part of a commercial enterprise, and no prosecutor even raises an eyebrow. To me, it is very clear that — assuming at least $5000 worth of e-books were deleted — Amazon and its contractors and employees involved in the deletion have committed the felony denounced by 18 USC 1030. Each Kindle is a protected computer, and Amazon intentionally accessed each and caused the impairment of the availability of data stored on each, without authorization.

If some teenage hacker had done the same thing as a prank, the FBI would be leading him away in handcuffs. Amazon does it as part of a commercial enterprise, and no prosecutor even raises an eyebrow.

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