Book published in 1948 continues to be relevant
This morning one of my former students sent me this bit of world news from our neighbors across the Atlantic. It always pleases me when the kids touch base with me, but it makes me even happier when they share something that we studied in class. It makes me feel we're still connected and learning in that big classroom called "the world."
Some of them complained mightily when we read George Orwell's "1984" (back in 1985, one smart alec even said the novel wasn't relevant because it "hadn't come true."), but as the years go by, I think they appreciate the continuing relevance of the book. When the term "Owellian" is used, they immediately understand the reference.
The news from Engadget:
"The British use the word 'sin bin' for an Orwellian program whereby "problem families" (currently numbering 2,000, but someday as many as 20,000) are placed under 24/7 CCTV surveillance in their own homes. Chris Grayling, something called the 'Shadow Home Secretary,' puts it thusly: 'This Government has been in power for more than a decade during which time anti-social behavior, family breakdown and problems like alcohol abuse and truancy have just got worse and worse.' Meaning, of course, that cameras must be moved from the streets of England into people's homes, where they'll be used to make sure that kids go to school, go to bed at a decent hour, and eat proper meals. If only they'd had programs like this when we were kids -- maybe things would have turned out differently."
Surely this reporter can't be serious! "Things would have turned out differently"?? I don't doubt that! The question is - Would it have been BETTER or WORSE? There are always unintended consequences for every action.
Another of my former students (This one goes WAY back!) notified me when Amazon deleted "1984" and "Animal Farm" from customer's Kindles.
Amazon sends 1984 down the memory hole:
A seventeen-year-old high school senior has sued Amazon for vanishing George Orwell's 1984 from his Kindle ebook reader - and removing his personal annotations in the process.
In July, Jeff Bezos and company deleted all copies of both "1984" and "Animal Farm" from citizen Kindles after the rights holder complained the titles had been sold without its permission.
A third-party publisher had uploaded the digital texts to Amazon's online Kindle store, claiming that Orwell's two most famous works were in the US public domain.
Michigan high school senior Justin D. Gawronski was among those who saw their personal copy of 1984 disappear down the Orwellian memory hole. Shortly after, Gawronski filed suit against Amazon in federal court, seeking class-action status.
According to the suit, Gawronski watched 1984 "vanish before his very eyes."
Apparently, Gawronski also took "copious notes" on his personal copy of 1984, and though the notes remained in a separate file when Amazon removed the book, they were completely useless. "A note such as 'remember this paragraph for your thesis' is useless if it does not actually reference a specific paragraph," the suit continues. "Gawronski now needs to recreate all of his studies."
Naming another Kindle owner who complained of vanishing Orwell, the suit hopes to prevent Amazon from vanishing Kindle books in the future, and it seeks damages for Kindle owners everywhere.
Amazon's terms of service say that books are licensed not sold. But as the suit point out, they also say that users have the right to keep a "permanent copy" of purchased books and to "view, use, and display such Digital Content an unlimited number of times." And the terms fail to explain that Amazon has the technical power or the right to remove content from personal devices. Likewise, the suit says, Amazon "never disclosed that it could remotely render useless notes, annotations, bookmarks, and highlighting created by consumers."
The suit accuses Amazon of violating its terms of service, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), and the local Washington Consumer Protection Act.
Jeff Bezos has apologized for Amazon's Orwellian moment. And the company has vowed never to do it again. But at the very least, it's questionable whether Amazon can make such a claim. Now that the company has shown it has the power to remove content from citizen kindles, rights holders may have the legal leverage to force such removals.
Thanks, Jonathan and Hans, for these bits of Orwellian news from our world today! Keep thinking!
Comments
- -- Posted by goat lady on Wed, Aug 5, 2009, at 8:01 AM
- -- Posted by Ducky on Wed, Aug 5, 2009, at 8:50 AM
- -- Posted by Ducky on Wed, Aug 5, 2009, at 8:54 AM
- -- Posted by goat lady on Wed, Aug 5, 2009, at 9:27 AM
- -- Posted by 1stcavdad on Wed, Aug 5, 2009, at 12:39 PM
- -- Posted by FJGuy on Wed, Aug 5, 2009, at 5:52 PM
- -- Posted by goat lady on Thu, Aug 6, 2009, at 7:55 AM
- -- Posted by FJGuy on Thu, Aug 6, 2009, at 2:33 PM
- -- Posted by 1stcavdad on Thu, Aug 6, 2009, at 2:50 PM
- -- Posted by lovebooks on Fri, Aug 7, 2009, at 1:26 PM
- -- Posted by 1stcavdad on Fri, Aug 7, 2009, at 8:41 PM
- -- Posted by FJGuy on Sat, Aug 8, 2009, at 12:47 PM
- -- Posted by goat lady on Sat, Aug 8, 2009, at 3:45 PM
- -- Posted by FJGuy on Sat, Aug 8, 2009, at 5:13 PM
- -- Posted by goat lady on Sun, Aug 9, 2009, at 8:50 PM
- -- Posted by FJGuy on Sun, Aug 23, 2009, at 2:58 PM
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