In a moment that may as well have come out of a dystopian novel, Amazon is making changes… and not everyone is going to like them.
in 2022 the internet was rife with memes which claimed that “You will own nothing and be happy”. The question is… will we be happy?
Fast forward to the 26th February this month, and Amazon is taking this literally.
Amazon is making a massive change, and this has got YouTubers, authors, readers, and Kindle-lovers alike posting on their blogs, and social media channels about what is going to happen next week!
Amazon is Taking Away Your Ability to Own Books
If you’ve purchased books on Amazon’s Kindle store, you may think they belong to you. But starting February 26, Amazon is removing the ability to download Kindle books to your computer, meaning you will no longer have local backups. This is a major shift in digital ownership, and if you don’t act fast, you may lose access to books you thought you owned.
What’s Changing?
- No More Offline Downloads – You will no longer be able to download Kindle books to your computer for offline storage.
- Amazon Controls Your Library – Any book Amazon removes from the Kindle store will be automatically removed from your device.
- Subscription Model Push – Amazon wants you locked into its ecosystem rather than owning your books.
- Loss of Ownership – You don’t own the books you buy digitally, only a license to access them (as long as Amazon allows it).
- Locked into Amazon – Kobo and other eReader owners will no longer be able to buy books from Amazon and transfer them to their devices.
- Books Can Be Edited or Replaced – Amazon has previously updated books, and covers without user consent, even altering content.
Why You Need to Act Now
Amazon has a history of removing books. In 2009, they famously deleted George Orwell’s 1984 from customers’ Kindles without warning, citing licensing issues. In 2012, a woman lost access to her entire Kindle library when Amazon suspended her account for allegedly violating their Terms of Service. These changes mean your digital library is at Amazon’s mercy.
What You Can Do
- Download Your Books Before February 26
- You will need to manually download each book one by one.
- If you have 300 books, this will take roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes.
- Use Calibre to Backup and Transfer Books
- Calibre is a free software that helps you organize your ebooks.
- Amazon books have DRM (Digital Rights Management) that locks them to Kindle devices. While removing DRM violates Amazon’s Terms of Service, it is not piracy if you’ve legally purchased the book.
- Consider Switching to Kobo, Nook, or other e-readers
- Unlike Kindle, Kobo allows USB transfers of books, meaning you can store and access your books offline.
- You can still buy DRM-free ebooks from many stores and read them on Kobo.
- Buy Paperbacks Instead
- Physical books cannot be deleted or altered.
- You will always have access, no matter what happens to a digital platform.
Final Warning
If you ever decide to delete your Amazon account, you will lose all your purchased Kindle books forever. Amazon’s move to restrict downloads is a clear step toward controlling how, when, and if you can read your own books. Now is the time to take action and ensure you don’t lose access to your library.
Backup your books today – before Amazon takes your ability to download them!