You’ll soon lose access to your Microsoft ebook library
Microsoft ebook buyers might want to re-read their library before it’s too late
If you’ve ever bought ebooks through the Microsoft store, then we’ve got some bad news – the entire catalogue is going to be deleted within the month. Worse still, Microsoft hasn’t said exactly when this will happen.
Thankfully, Microsoft will issue refunds to anyone who’s purchased a book on their storefront in the past. Although, unfortunately, if you’re halfway through Fifty Shades of Grey or have made any annotations in your favourite Agatha Christie novels, then I’m afraid you won’t get to save or export any of this data before Microsoft finally burns down its own virtual version of the Library of Alexandria.
This news is unsurprising, especially considering Microsoft’s ebooks struggled to garner the same appeal as Amazon’s digital library. It didn’t have its own dedicated ebook reader for starters, which meant you had to rely on Microsoft’s own Edge browser to read your latest purchases. It also didn’t allow you to copy, print or share content with other users because all books were locked down with restrictive digital rights management (DRM) software.
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The practice of imposing DRM on products is often loathed by those who buy digital. DRM is essentially a digital shield, which legally controls what users can and can’t do with their digital products. It’s these restrictions that also allow companies to remove access to your content if its servers are permanently shut down.
Microsoft announced back in April that it would stop selling ebooks, but we now know that the service will stop working in early July, before being deleted entirely, due to the DRM servers being switched off for good.
According to Microsoft, any users who purchased ebooks through the Microsoft store will automatically receive a refund. However, if your payment method isn’t stored or is out of date, you’ll have to settle for a digital credit that can be used on the Microsoft store. If you’d rather get your money back, now is a good time to check that your account is up to date.
Of course, it goes without saying that free ebooks won’t be compensated. However, those who made annotations in their books before April 2 2019 will also be compensated with an additional $25.
The demise of Microsoft’s ebooks is a gentle reminder that most of the digital media we purchase – be it games, ebooks or music – is merely used as a license to use that content, which unfortunately can be ripped away from us at any moment.