Think you bought a copy of Orwell’s 1984 or Animal Farm for your Kindle? Think again. This week in a move that would make George himself say “I told you so,” Amazon remotely deleted copies of these Orwell classics from hundreds of Kindles. Though Amazon credited buyers’ accounts for original purchase price, Kindle owners are rightfully pissed.

Amazon says the move was prompted by their discovery that the publisher offering the digital editions didn’t actually own the rights. Sadly for high-tech book lovers everywhere, though, this kind of mess drives another nail in the coffin of digital book delivery — and serves as yet another skirmish in the on-going war over copyright and digital rights management

Amazon Erases Orwell Books From Kindle [New York Times]
Kindle [Amazon]