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The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Seattle on behalf of a couple of Kindle users, seeks class-action status in addition to unspecified damages against Amazon.
Two weeks ago, Amazon electronically deleted Orwell books, including "1984" and "Animal Farm" from customers' Kindle e-readers without notifying them. Amazon gave customers refunds for the deleted e-books, but the ensuing media storm prompted Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to issue a public apology.
But that wasn't enough for a couple of Kindle users, who alleged that because they had used the Kindle to write notes tied to specific parts of the e-books, those notes became useless when the e-books themselves were deleted.
The deletion did not affect the notes themselves, but because those notes were tied to specific parts of the e-books, the users claimed that they now have to reread the books and recreate their notes.
While the lawsuit is an entertaining read, it might not bring much revenue to Amazon if the company were to make it available as a download to its Kindle.
In the lawsuit, lawyers for the plaintiffs start early by alleging, "With an uncanny knack for irony, Amazon recently remotely deleted any traces of certain electronic copies of George Orwell's '1984' and 'Animal Farm' from customers' Kindles and iPhones, thereby sending these books down Orwell's so-called 'memory hole.'"
"Uncanny knack for irony?" That phrase does not often appear in a lawsuit.
The lawyers for the plaintiffs also brought the power of the electronic press to their side by quoting blogs in Slate and The New York Times.
They quoted Farhad Manjoo of slate.com as saying, "'The power to delete your books, movies, and music remotely is a power no one should have. ... [T]he company ought to remove the technical capability to do so, making such a mass evisceration impossible in the event that a government compels it.'"
From noted New York Times writer David Pogue, the lawyers quoted his description of Amazon's conduct: "'[I]t's like Barnes & Noble sneaking into our homes in the middle of the night, taking some books that we've been reading off our nightstands, and leaving us a check on the coffee table.'"
The lawyers also allege that the value of the Kindles and downloaded reading material is considerably weakened by the ability of Amazon to delete e-books, both in terms of the actual users and in terms of potential resale.
"There exists a significant secondary market for used electronic reading devices, including Kindles, and Plaintiffs' Kindles are worth less on this market due to Amazon's ability to remotely delete digital content from it. Plaintiffs and members of the Class have been injured by this diminution in value," the lawyers wrote.
Furthermore, the lawsuit actually attempts to give a specific economic value to a student's homework because users in a subclass of the plaintiffs "must expend further resources and effort in order to recreate their now useless work-product."
How much?
"As a result of these takings, Amazon's conduct has caused a loss to one or more persons during any one-year period aggregating at least $5,000 in value in real economic damages," the lawsuit alleges.
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