Kindle Tea Party

I know folks were throwing tea parties to protest the bank bailouts in the U.S., but I wasn’t aware that Amazon Kindle owners have been throwing their own tea party to let Amazon know that it should stick with its promise and don’t go over $9.99 with Kindle books. “9.99 boycott” is the tag that the Kindle owners have been leaving on e-books that are being sold for more than $9.99. It’s a very interesting way of community fighting back against high prices and restrictive copyright protection technologies.

I happen to agree with the Kindlers on this issue. I fail to see why Amazon is charging even $9.99 for e-books. You are not getting a physical book. You can’t even sell your books back, which means you are going to be the last owner of your copy. The copyright keeps you from sharing your book with others. And the fact that you are paying $360 for a Kindle and $10 for most Kindle books means it’s going to take you sometime to get your initial investment back.

Amazon and other companies in the market need to get their acts together when it comes to dealing with the issue of copyright. I still believe these companies should allow their readers to remove the copyright protections on their Kindle books for a fee. And the so-called “locked” content should be sold for much less (maybe $5.99). It’s not only more practical but more just to the consumers. As far as $9.99 boycott is concerned, I doubt Amazon will be making any changes any time soon.

Your take: how much should Amazon charge for copyright protected e-books?