Amazon and Orwell: A decent apology for a stupid event

July 24, 2009

This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our “solution” to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we’ve received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission.
With deep apology to our customers,
Jeff Bezos
Founder & CEO
Amazon.com

Sure, deleting customers copies of George Orwell’s books off their Kindles remotely was a stupid thing to do, not to mention ironic in the extreme, but you have to appreciate a decent apology by someone who at least sounds like they’ve learned something.

Here’s hoping the Kindle starts opening up a bit and digital publishing continues to grow. Until then, there’s still Stanza (even if Amazon now owns them too).

Posted in Media