Amazon is once again highlighting the fact that purchasing something in today’s digital age does not necessarily mean you have ownership of it. The company has closed a loophole that allowed Kindle book owners to remove the anti-piracy protection from their books and transfer them to other devices.

For some dedicated digital book enthusiasts, Amazon’s Kindle is not the preferred e-reading platform. They may prefer other e-readers that offer better features, such as a color screen. Previously, the “Download & transfer via USB” tool allowed Kindle users to download and transfer their e-books to another Kindle device without using WiFi or Bluetooth. However, some users discovered that older e-books used a file format with relatively weak security measures, which could be circumvented using the tool and other hacks to transfer their books to other devices. Now, books purchased through Amazon are effectively locked to the platform.

The rise of digital books led to concerns among publishers that their content would be easily pirated and uploaded to unauthorized websites. In response, Amazon developed proprietary formats that restrict access to purchased books, making it difficult for users to read them outside the Kindle app. A standardized security format would allow for the transfer of books while protecting copyrights, but Amazon lacks the incentive to adopt such a format.

This has worked in Amazon’s favor, as the company was an early player in the e-book market and the Kindle has become synonymous with e-books, accounting for 70% of the market. As a result, users who have built a large collection of Kindle books are essentially locked into the ecosystem. Additionally, some books are exclusively available on Amazon’s platform, and the company often matches prices with competing marketplaces, generating revenue from the ads on its site. Although Amazon has a monopoly in the digital book market, it could argue that it is not a monopoly in the broader book category, especially given the resurgence of Barnes and Noble.

Over the years, users on platforms like Reddit have shared workarounds to transfer their purchased books to other devices, but it has become a cat-and-mouse game, with Amazon consistently closing loopholes through updates.

Despite continuing to release new Kindle devices under the leadership of Panos Panay, critics argue that Amazon’s dominance in the e-reading market has stifled innovation. Bookshop.org has recently launched its own e-book store, aiming to attract readers by promising to give more money back to independent stores and authors. However, the platform faces an uphill battle in convincing users to switch, as its e-books are not compatible with Kindle devices. Bookshop.org hopes to pressure Amazon into changing its practices to support its e-books, ultimately envisioning a future where books can be freely transferred across devices, allowing competing e-readers to thrive. For now, Amazon seems unconcerned about losing its market lead, as many consumers simply purchase a Kindle without considering the origin of their books.