switch11 called out my pissed off rant for what it was – and was correct,  much to my chagrin.  I went ahead and actually redownloaded a copy of a book I just bought about 25 times on the same device before getting tired of testing the point.  Also went and crawled through Amazon’s page to find their mention of DRM which states:

Content from the Kindle Store: Most books and other non-subscription items you purchase from the Kindle store may be downloaded for your personal use on to up to six Kindles registered to your Amazon.com account. If you have exceeded your download limit, you must purchase an additional copy of the title. Subscription content can only be downloaded to one Kindle at a time, and only the seven most recent issues will be available for redownload in the Kindle Content Manager or from the Manage Your Kindle page.

I still didn’t agree with the download limit requiring a repurchase,  but as pointed out six devices is rather reasonable.  A bit more crawling around turned up a mobileread forums post where users said that the limit can be waived,  or the download refunded for another purchase if you speak to customer service.  While still not what I was expecting when originally purchasing (that I’d always have it, regardless) it isn’t something I can complain about to the extend I did originally.

I have to apologize for spreading misinformation and purely jumping the gun without testing myself – and will go back to just posting tech bits instead of editorializing,  which obviously requires much more work than I was willing to put in.

[Update]

Since GearDiary has reported that he’s talked to multiple reps who seem to be saying that the restrictions-per-device is set by the publisher (which another publisher in the comments says was never a question that is asked when submitting to Amazon) I decided to simply email them and see if an answer is provided without having to try and whip something together while on the phone (since I’ve been there before, unfortunately).

I’m curious about Kindle DRM restrictions.  As I’ve read recently there is a maximum of six devices (according to the DRM FAQ in Manage Your Kindle) that a purchase can be transferred to before requiring a repurchase.

I’ve also read that there is a publisher based restriction on how many devices a purchase is allowed to be transferred to,  is this true?

If so,  where is the notification of limitations per purchase?

If not,  what is the Amazon policy for Kindle DRM purchases?

Thank you very much for your time.

Sigh, effort.  I really would like to know,  though – if it’s a limitation set per publisher that is not made clear anywhere it’s still a rather fucked up policy to have in place.  I can deal with a six device limit (and the option to explain if necessary later) as I do not expect, personally, to reach that anytime in the near future – but an arbitrary non-published limit is not acceptable.

[Update #2]

Here’s Amazon’s response – the per-publisher device download limit is confirmed,  but no mention of when/where this is published,  so I responded and asked again.

The availability of content in the Kindle Store depends on the author or publisher that owns rights to the content.

We don’t limit the number of Kindles that can be registered to an Amazon.com account. Kindle books can only be downloaded on up to six devices, depending on licensing limits specified by the publisher.

Digital Content requirements are included in the End User License Agreement online. Please refer to the Kindle End User License Agreement EULA for any questions you have about use:

http://www.amazon.com/kindlelicense

I hope you found this information useful. Our goal is to help you get the most out of your Kindle experience.

However, I will definitely pass your interest along to the Kindle Team for their consideration with future developments.