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Applied ResearchLiza PottsDRM has a “history of frustrating consumers withcompatibility problems, unreasonable restrictions onhow legally acquired digital media can be consumed”(Allen, 2008, p. 5). The EU acknowledges the legalissues across nations, a consideration for companies andsystems such as Amazon, Hulu, and Pandora, by stating,“These differences could create potential obstacles tothe free flow of information and additional burdensfor economic operators and citizens” (European UnionCommission, n.d., p. 3).How can we make these experiences moreuser-centered and less cumbersome? The currentimplementations, while making great inroads in thedistribution of content, still suffer from issues ofusability, timing, and sharing. As Latour (2005, p. 23)notes, “The task of defining and ordering the socialshould be left to the actors themselves.” In that spirit, weshould focus on usability issues, tracing them throughthe people, Web sites, corporations, and technologiesriddled with clumsy user interfaces and saddled withDRM pressures that threaten these experiences.Mapping Experiences of Digital ReadingAmazon’s Kindle is billed as a “wireless reading device”that is “as thin as most magazines” and“lighter than a typical paperback” (Amazon,2009). Amazon states that it has more than350,000 items available for access throughthe Kindle, including books, magazines,newspapers, and blogs. Users can alsoannotate this content, allowing them tointeract with the texts through bookmarks,highlights, and clippings.Through the Kindle’s Whispernettechnology, Kindle owners can downloadbooks or files. This case study looks at theissue of downloaded content, specificallyexamining how this technology also permitsAmazon to remove downloaded content,a hotly contested issue for consumers andprivacy advocates.Kindle owners can download theircontent through traditional wirelessnetworks or through Amazon’s Whispernettechnology. At 10.2 ounces with wirelessPaperbacksconnectivity, Whispernet encourages portability. Thenewest Kindle model provides access to Whispernetinternationally, with shipping available to more than100 countries (Amazon, 2009). Coverage is availableacross many parts of the world, with faster 3G coverageconcentrated primarily in Western Europe, Israel, Dubai,and South Korea (Cellmaps, 2009). Additional smallerconcentrations are in South Africa, Japan, India, andAustralia. Although there are additional internationalservice fees for U.S. customers, service is available toconsumers who travel abroad.In summer 2009, Amazon deleted Kindle contentafter discovering that the third-party publishers didnot own the license to sell the content. Arnab andHutchinson (2005, p. 1) have noted that “DRM doesnot actually implement the fundamentals of copyrightlaw, and is rather a mechanism for enforcing license andcontract restrictions on digital data.” In this case, thatenforcement meant remotely deleting content withoutwarning. A basic diagram of this artifact can be seenin Figure 7. This map depicts numerous relationships:stencils indicating relationships between actor types andlines representing strength between the central actorPersonand the supporting actors. The strongest relationships3rd Party (illegal) LicenserOrwell1984Kindle OwnersJeff BezosFigure 7. Current artifact experience for Kindle consumersAmazon.comKindleKindle 1984 OwnersVolume 57, Number 3, August 2010 l Technical Communication 309