'Kindle ate my homework' boy sues Amazon
THE BOY who lost all his homework on George Orwell's book 1984 when it was deleted from his Kindle has decided to sue Amazon for getting him in hot water with his teacher.
When Amazon pulled the dystopian novel 1984 from thousands of Kindles earlier this month, Justin Gawronski's electronic notes for a summer homework assignment instantly became useless.
While Amazon has said it's sorry for deleting content that people paid for from their machines and promised never to do it again, that is not good enough for 17 year-old Justin.
After all when he showed up in class, his teacher at Eisenhower High School in Shelby Township categorised his "Kindle ate my homework" tale as a variation on the age old "my dog ate my homework" excuse.
According to PR Newschannel, Gawronski was assigned 1984 for an advanced placement course in which students must turn in "reflections" on written works when they return from summer break, then take a written test. He was a quarter to halfway through the book when it disappeared from his Kindle.
His notes on the book were "rendered useless because they no longer referenced the relevant parts of the book," according to the lawsuit.
The kid has got himself a brief, Jay Edelson, who is a lawyer in Chicago, and he has filed a class action lawsuit seeking punitive damages for those affected by the deletion as well as an injunction to prevent Amazon from improperly accessing Kindles in the future.
Amazon said that it will never do that again but it did not expect to see a class action lawsuit. µ
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Sorry I can't help but laugh, whats wrong with a plain old paperback book, I mean it doesn't crash, the batteries don't go flat and it's not subject to DRM.
Rob
Lets say I buy a program in a storm and install it on my computer. If when I connect to the internet the company goes into my computer and just renders it useless. They've taken my money and left me with a useless product that fulfills none of the advertized use.
A digital copy of a book falls under the same rules.
As to Rob's comment-
If you read a lot of books,
The kindle ends up being cheaper-So long as you actually get the information you pay for!
Now! If this happens so much as one more time, the kindle becomes worthless altogether. You can no longer rely on getting the product you purchased and/or keeping it. Amazon screwed up big time! You can't just say "I'm sorry and I won't do it again." when you deal with millions of customers all over the world.
They need to learn this lesson. Now. I hope he get a mint for this, and I don't mean candy.
This doesn't make any sense to me. The kid was only a quarter of the way through the book? If that is the case, then he wouldn't have gotten into whatever course he was trying to anyways! He should have just gotten a hard copy of the book and redone his notes. I doubt that a quarter of the book worth of notes would be that hard to redo.
Also, who in their right mind would even be doing this on their kindle considering this is an assignment that is to be handed in?
I agree that was Amazon did was wrong, but I also think that this kid has no real grounds for suing the company. He was a quarter of the way through, and it's his fault he didn't just continue the assignment. When your pen runs out of ink, you don't just stop writing your essay, you get another pen (or pencil!) and continue. What has the world come to?
three words: backup backup backup :)
FFS, its only the end of July! He';s got at least another month to re-read the book, and it isn't that long even.
Friggin kids - everything is someone else's fault but their own!
Time & time again Stallman is right.
Just imagine if it was your livelihood that was wiped out.
Doctors, real estate agents and other professionals have to update their certs on a regular basis or lose their licence. What if your study guide and notes are erased by Amazon or some other DRM clown as you get close to the deadline for your test?
DRM is for suckers.
This kid is trying to run a scam. Amazon deleted 1984 off of the account backups. Not directly off of the Kindles themselves. The only way he would have lost his notes is if he deleted 1984 off of the Kindle.
I'm not saying what Amazon did was right by any means. It's wrong of them, but this kid has right to sue on these grounds.
For English comprehension, you get a FAIL.
Fact of the matter is, Amazon DID delete the copies of the book from customers' Kindles, they admitted doing so, and this has been published by several sources.
Kindle did not say they would not do this again. They made a vague statement that they wouldn't do it again in a similar situation. They have repeatedly refused to say that they will NEVER delete a customer's files again.
Wow. I going to buy a kindle but this gives me doubts. I don't want to buy something and then 2 months later the manufacturer decides to cripple it and destroy all my stuff remotely on a whim.
Rob, a kindle with a dozen ebooks is easier to carry than a dozen novels. Your comment is like saying, "What's wrong with stone slabs? They won't catch on fire like those strange paper books would, you don't have to worry about bugs eating them, they're more durable, and if you practice, you can learn to read the etchings in the dark with your fingers" :P
I believe that manufacturers have no right to modify any products that it sells to consumers without the expressed consent of said consumer. Sue away, homework boy, and Godspeed. :)
Let's be clear about the situation:
#1: Customers bought e-book
#2: Amazon changes mind about sale
#3: Amazon remotely deletes e-book from customers' Kindles, nullifying sale without customers' permission or notice
#4: Amazon claims it's okay, because they refunded the money, and they (might) not do it again
#5: Kid (only guy with common sense, apparently) thinks it's unfair and sues
Since when is taking something back from someone who paid for it not straight-up stealing? How is it that Amazon didn't get sued earlier, and it took some kid to realize that what they did was practically illegal? That's like a dealership deciding to repossess my car after I bought it, and saying it's okay because they'll pay me back. Sure, the kid's reasoning might be a little lame, but that's not the point: get a good lawyer, elevate the complaint to class-action status, and teach all these DRM-fiends that they don't have the right to dictate what customers do (or can't do, like KEEP) with what they buy.
How many people were foolish enough to trust these past DRM pushers?
AOL MusicNow (closed)
Yahoo Music (closed)
Spiralfrog (bankrupt)
MTV URGE (closed)
MSN Music (closed)
Musicmatch Jukebox (closed)
Ruckus Network (closed)
PS - No, you don't get your money back even though many of these guys are still around. To me, that seems like fraud but I'm sure their armies of lawyers put in the fine print to cover it.
Commercial law states clearly that a contract is a mutual agreement between parties that is concluded by an exchange of goods, money on one side, an item or service on the other.
Once the contract is concluded, it is binding and it cannot be changed without the explicit and written agreement of both parties.
It astounds me to witness how often the digital realm, because of technical possibilities that did not exist before, makes moves that completely disregard the law.
As far as I'm concerned, the situation is simple : what I have paid for is mine (as long as I honestly bought it from a public retailer and not in a car boot sale), and nobody has the right to take it away from me without my consent.
Nobody.
How often are pirated versions of texts or movies tracked down and collected? The people who bought Nineteen-Eighty-Four are not at fault here, Amazon is. Legal restitution should be sought from Amazon for the illegally distributed copies of the book; there's no reason for this to be taken out on the customers.