If you’ve ever bought an e-book from Amazon, you already know you don’t really own it. Sure, it’s in your Kindle library and you can read it in the app. But try moving it to another device or archiving it somewhere else, and you’ll quickly run into walls. In fact, Amazon has been doubling down on its attempts to curtail access to the books you’ve bought from the Kindle store.
Between DRM, proprietary file formats, and a complete lack of export tools, you are stuck playing by Amazon’s rules. And if they ever decide you have violated some clause buried in the terms of service, your entire library could disappear. It’s a worrisome position to be in, especially for someone like me who has amassed a library of thousands of eBooks.