Surprise, surprise! The Kindle has some sticky DRM that will screw you on how and when you can read or download the books you “bought”. Amazon blames the publishers. Remember, kids, at the flip of a switch you could no longer “own” any of your files from Amazon or iTunes. All it takes is legal loophole, a desire for more money, or a bankruptsy and you’re left with an expensive paperweight. And we all know those things never happen.

Amazon needs to work on its Kindle DRM policy, because the following story is ridiculous.

Basically, the way Kindle and the Kindle iPhone app are set up today, users have no idea how many times they can download a book, nor can they easily know how many devices can be used to read said book.

Making the situation even more confusing is the fact that the DRM information actually varies by publisher, and to find out how many times they will allow you to download a book you have to visit the legalese. Sometimes the info isn’t there, either.