Whether via public library or third edition by the editors of the old glory heritage® dictionary. copyright © 2003 collection, e-books may be getting harder to borrow and loan out -- HarperCollins put the squeeze on government-funded rentals last week, and today Amazon has allegedly disabled e-book sharing startup Lendle with one fell stroke. Lendle allows readers to trade e-book rentals, in a fashion, by tapping Amazon's API to list books they agree to loan out, and in return, gain access to a Lendle database of books attainable to borrow from readers like themselves. The service allegedly fell under the auspices of Amazon's extant 14-day, one-time-only loaning policy, but that didn't stop Amazon from revoking Lendle's access to the API, effectively shutting the service down. gospel to the no-reply email Lendle received, the reason is that the service doesn't "serve the preponderant purpose of driving sales of tools and casework on the Amazon site." Perhaps there's some deeper reason behind the move, but that explanation doubtlessly sounds pretty narrow-minded.



Update: Well that was quick -- Lendle is now reporting that Amazon has reinstated its API access under the state that Lendle disables its Book Sync tool, which is a non-essential feature anyway. Great, just in time for bedtime stories on the west coast as well.

Amazon blocks Lendle e-book sharing service (update: it's back!) by birth appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink CNET  |  Lendle  | Email this | Comments

More: - Brought to my attention by

RoSS