More on the Kindle/1984 Issue

We're finding out more about the Kindle/1984 issue in which copies of George Orwell's novel have been deleted from Kindles after purchase and download. (See the NY Times article here).

The fact that Amazon can reach into your Kindle is not news (unless you turn off synchronization as discussed on this blog previously). That's how the Kindle iPhone app can synchronize with your Kindle. It also allows for updates as in newspapers, although I'm not aware that anyone is using this at the moment.

The issue apparently has arisen because 1984 is out of copyright in countries like Canada, but it remains in copyright in the US. For the moment, the Kindle is not sold outside the US, so it seems that any items offered for sale on the Kindle must live under US copyright laws (that means 1984 is not in the public domain).

But what of other readers? What of digitization projects such as Project Gutenberg? We've never really come to grips with the fact that there is a period of time -- sometimes decades long -- during which material is partially copyrighted in various countries around the world.

I fear that this is a warning shot and that it will be dealt with by trying to manage copyright in an old-fashioned way -- that is by treating copyrighted material as physical objects such as books or art prints.

In fact, is it not conceivable that some imaginative small and sovereign country would come up with its own copyright laws in the same way that some countries have staked their claims to online gaming.

The deletion of Kindle copies of Orwell's book is dramatic and is getting attention. But the underlying issue -- what happens to copyright in this digital age in which place is mutable -- this issue is not going away.

If I purchased the Orwell novel in a legal digital format in a foreign country such as Canada, would I have to surrender it at the border on my return? Would I have to declare it?

This isn't over...