Amazon Kindle removes download feature of purchased books: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:25, 18 February 2025

The Amazon Kindle website says that starting from February 26 2025, you can no longer download your purchased e-books from Amazon's website to your computer using the "download and transfer via USB" feature. A warning describing this change appears on the page for the download feature.^[1]

Background

Amazon allows purchasing e-books on their platform, and with their download and transfer feature it was possible to locally store purchased e-books on your computer as a backup. It also enables customers that bought e-books from Amazon to convert them to other formats and read them on other e-readers (although this sometimes requires removing DRM first). Amazon Kindle e-readers use a proprietary format, while many other e-readers use the more open EPUB format. Without the feature to download your purchased e-books, customers are restricted from moving from Amazon to another e-book platform, since they wouldn't be able to keep the e-books they purchased on Amazon.

Removal of download and transfer via USB

The removal of the download feature retroactively changes customers' e-book purchases through the Amazon Kindle platform. This platform is subject to the terms Amazon sets, which can be amended at any time. For instance, Amazon previously removed books customers had purchased since the company that uploaded them didn't have the rights to the content.^[2] An important side note is that it is still possible to download e-books to the device, but it will require an internet connection on the e-reader, which previously wasn't the case.

Implications for consumers

This change has several implications for Kindle customers:^[3]^[4]

This new policy changes an already purchased e-books, and also affect the older devices
This new policy makes it much harder to read purchased e-books on devices other than Kindle e-readers
This new policy requires customers to have an internet connection on the e-reader to download books they purchase through the Kindle platform

After the announcement, many consumers have downloaded their purchased e-books with the download and transfer feature while it is still possible. Many people are also moving to other providers to buy e-books going forward.

References

[1] ttps://www.theverge.com/news/612898/amazon-removing-kindle-book-download-transfer-usb

[2] ttps://goodereader.com/blog/kindle/amazon-is-not-to-be-trusted-anymore-with-their-kindle-e-reader

[3] ttps://www.reddit.com/r/kindle/comments/1inr9uy/fyi_amazon_is_removing_download_transfer_option

[4] ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMoCzeGnIss

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-The [[Amazon Kindle]] website warns about a policy change which states that starting from February 26 2025, you can no longer download your purchased e-books directly. A warning appears on the download page for e-books.<ref>https://www.theverge.com/news/612898/amazon-removing-kindle-book-download-transfer-usb</ref>
+The [[Amazon Kindle]] website says that starting from February 26 2025, you can no longer download your purchased e-books from Amazon's website to your computer using the "download and transfer via USB" feature. A warning describing this change appears on the page for the download feature.<ref>https://www.theverge.com/news/612898/amazon-removing-kindle-book-download-transfer-usb</ref>
 ==Background==
-Amazon allows purchasing e-books on their platform, and with their download and transfer feature it was possible to locally store the e-books as a backup for e-reader devices. It also allows a customer that bought an e-book to read it on another type of e-reader, and convert the format themselves. Amazon Kindle e-readers use a proprietary format, contrary to many other e-readers which use the EPUB standard. Without the feature to download your purchased e-books, customers are limited to the digital service Amazon offers.
+Amazon allows purchasing e-books on their platform, and with their download and transfer feature it was possible to locally store purchased e-books on your computer as a backup. It also enables customers that bought e-books from Amazon to convert them to other formats and read them on other e-readers (although this sometimes requires removing [[Digital rights management|DRM]] first). Amazon Kindle e-readers use a proprietary format, while many other e-readers use the more open EPUB format. Without the feature to download your purchased e-books, customers are restricted from moving from Amazon to another e-book platform, since they wouldn't be able to keep the e-books they purchased on Amazon.
 ==Removal of download and transfer via USB==
-The removal of the download feature [[Retroactively amended purchase|retroactively changes the purchase]] of customers of e-books through the Amazon Kindle platform. This platform is subject to the terms Amazon sets:  "Amazon says they can remove books from a device at any time, for any reason".<ref>https://goodereader.com/blog/kindle/amazon-is-not-to-be-trusted-anymore-with-their-kindle-e-reader</ref> An important side note is that it is still possible to download e-books to the device, but it will require an internet connection on the e-reader, which was previously not the case.
+The removal of the download feature [[Retroactively amended purchase|retroactively changes]] customers' e-book purchases through the Amazon Kindle platform. This platform is subject to the terms Amazon sets, which can be amended at any time. For instance, Amazon previously removed books customers had purchased since the company that uploaded them didn't have the rights to the content.<ref>https://goodereader.com/blog/kindle/amazon-is-not-to-be-trusted-anymore-with-their-kindle-e-reader</ref> An important side note is that it is still possible to download e-books to the device, but it will require an internet connection on the e-reader, which previously wasn't the case.
-==Consumer response==
+==Implications for consumers==
-The concerns and questions of the customers can be summarized as follows:<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/kindle/comments/1inr9uy/fyi_amazon_is_removing_download_transfer_option</ref>
+This change has several implications for Kindle customers:<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/kindle/comments/1inr9uy/fyi_amazon_is_removing_download_transfer_option</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMoCzeGnIss</ref>
-* This new policy changes an already purchased e-books, and also affect the older devices
+*This new policy changes an already purchased e-books, and also affect the older devices
-* This new policy limits already purchased e-books to only be read on Kindle e-readers
+*This new policy makes it much harder to read purchased e-books on devices other than Kindle e-readers
-* This new policy forces customers to have an internet connection on the e-reader to download purchased books through the Kindle platform
+*This new policy requires customers to have an internet connection on the e-reader to download books they purchase through the Kindle platform
-Customers also reacted by downloading their purchased e-books while they still can, and buying their e-books via other providers going forward.
+After the announcement, many consumers have downloaded their purchased e-books with the download and transfer feature while it is still possible. Many people are also moving to other providers to buy e-books going forward.
 ==References==
-{{reflist}}[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMoCzeGnIss Amazon are changing the way you own your Kindle books - you have 10 days to react], CriminOlly, original video on youtube.com
+{{reflist}}
 [[Category:Amazon]]
 [[Category:Digital rights management]]
 [[Category:Retroactively amended purchase]]
 [[Category:Articles based on videos]]