Breitbart: Users Sue Amazon Prime Video for Removing Media Purchases from Their Library

Users Sue Amazon Prime Video for Removing Media Purchases from Their Library
By Paul Bois 26 Aug 2025

Users have sued Amazon Prime Video for removing media from their library after being purchased, accusing the company of fraudulent advertising.

Users have been “purchasing” media on Prime Video (movies, television shows) only to realize months later that their purchases no longer exists in their media library. That’s because Amazon only sells a limited-time license to its users so that they watch the movie in perpetuity until the company loses the rights.

Per The Hollywood Reporter:

If the tech giant loses the rights to that version, the movie can be replaced with a different cut, like the one for theaters. And if Amazon loses the rights to the film altogether, it’ll completely disappear from the viewer’s library.

So should Amazon be able to say a consumer is “buying” that movie? Some people don’t think so, and they’ve turned to court.

I've been saying it for many years: all streaming services are rentals. No matter what they call that "purchase", if you can't download a copy without DRM, then you are forever at the mercy of whether it will remain hosted on its cloud server.

The content can go away for any reason whatsoever. If the company goes out of business. If they terminate their streaming service. If the server goes down. If they lose the rights to the content. Or if some employee decides Wednesday will be "no movies for you day". And I guarantee that the license agreements you agree to (which you certainly didn't read) has legalese that says the same thing.

Which is why I never "buy" streaming media content. When I buy music and movies, I either buy physical discs (preferred) or I buy from a service where I can download non-DRM tracks (e.g. Amazon's MP3 store and Apple's iTunes Music). If the content is protected or streaming-only, then I will not even consider a "purchase", and I will be very hesitant before even a "rental".

Personally, I'm really surprised Amazon's customers took this long to figure out that they've been scammed all along.

Homestar Runner rises again!

If you have no idea what this subject line is talking about, then you missed out on what used to be one of the coolest parts of the Internet.

Homestar Runner is/was a web site full of silly animations and games, written almost entirely in Flash. Unfortunately, with the demise of Adobe Flash, most of the site ended up a giant mess of broken links. And for those of us who got rid of Flash before Adobe shut it down, the site stopped working a long time ago.

Fortunately, it appears that some enterprising engineers develpped Ruffle, a Flash Player emulator that can be embedded in web sites, and the Homestar Runner people have been busy converting their site over to it.

As its disclaimer says, "Not every cartoon and game works perfectly just yet so be patient and expect some jankiness here and there while we keep a-workin!", but it is pretty good. And I can once again enjoy all of the StrongBad Emails, not just the ones that have been converted to YouTube videos.

And since this post wouldn't be complete without them, here are a few of my all-time favorite StrongBad e-mail videos:

• #57: Japanese Cartoon
• #58: Dragon. Featuring everybody's favorite character, Trogdor, the Burninator
• #118: Virus
• #152: ISP
• #179: Pizza Joint

Robotic basketball hoop: you can't miss a shot!

Just some random geekiness.

Naked Security: Firefox 66 will silence autoplaying web audio

Firefox 66 will silence autoplaying web audio
06 Feb 2019 by John E Dunn

It’s been on the to-do list for a while, but a new blog by the company has confirmed that from Firefox 66 for desktop and Firefox for Android, due on 19 March, media autoplay of video or audio will be blocked on websites by default.

Great news and it's about flippin' time.

Read the rest of the article for more information.

Classical Music Mashup

I just ran across this incredible set of mash-ups that combine lots of different pieces of classical music together. Thanks much to Grant Woolard for this really fun work.

I'm too nerdy for my survey

I get small surveys all the time from a variety of apps that I run. Today I got one that read:

What's your favorite bird of prey?

• Buzzard
• Caracara
• Eagle
• Falcon
• Hawk
• Kite
• Osprey
• Owl
• Vulture

I took one look at the question, and before I saw any of the choices, my first thought was "Klingon".

Sean Carroll: Entropy and Complexity, Cause and Effect, Life and Time

Entropy and Complexity, Cause and Effect, Life and Time
Posted on November 3, 2016 by Sean Carroll

... I had a very fun collaboration with Henry Reich, the wizard behind the Minute Physics videos. Henry and I have known each other for a while, and I previously joined forces with him to talk about dark energy and the arrow of time.

This time, we made a series of five videos (sponsored by Google and Audible.com) based on sections of The Big Picture. In particular, we focused on the thread connecting the arrow of time and entropy to such everyday notions of cause and effect and the appearance of complex structures, ending with the origin of life and how low-entropy energy from the Sun powers the biosphere here on Earth. Henry and I wrote the scripts together, based on the book; I read the narration, and of course he did the art.

Enjoy!

Please click through to the original article and watch the videos. Each one is about 3 minutes long and is easy to understand even without any scientific background.

Entropic Time, by A Capella Science

This is a really cool science song and an even more cool video. I don't want to think about how much work it must've been to make it (but I will soon find out, because they have a "making of" companion video, which I've embedded below the music video.)

And, the making-of video:

Introducing the DJI Osmo

h/t AppleInsider

I'm not very familiar with products already available to those making movies with phones, but this device looks really awesome. I'm sure this kind of steadicam tech has been around for a long time, but this is the first I've seen of it in a (relatively) inexpensive device integrated with a smartphone, and I'm very impressed.

ABC: The Muppets - First Look Presentation

The Muppets - First Look Presentation

I can't wait for the show to air. It's going to be heaps-o-fun.

Instant Ice - Waterbending In Real Life!

Instant Ice - Waterbending In Real Life!

Want to make a glass of water freeze instantly on command? What is this supernatural power and who can use it? Discover the secrets to Ice-bending ... in real life.

Detailed Instant Ice Tips & Tricks: http://youtu.be/7o8moFSHrAQ

You can do it with soda too!: http://youtu.be/5T68TvdoSbI

http://www.thekingofrandom.com
...
Project Inspired by: A friend at work, named Lew, told me he left water bottles outside overnight in freezing temperatures, then got the water to freeze instantly by shaking them. Since then, I've seen multiple videos on YouTube demonstrating the effect of supercooled water, and had multiple requests to make a video.

Sounds like something fun to try at home. I'll have to try it out one of these days.

YouTube: Creating glass horse the old fashioned way - Francisco Lopez Serrano

Creating glass horse the old fashioned way - Francisco Lopez Serrano

I've seen many glass sculptures made at RenFaires before, but never like this. All sculpted from one gather of molten glass without reheating. Wow!

Behind The Music: The Muppaphones

Ever wonder what happened to those stars of TV, the Muppaphones?

Talking to the Police by Professor James Duane

Professor James Duane gives a 47-minute lecture on why talking to the police without a grant of immunity is always a bad idea, even if (especially if) you are innocent. The first half of the lecture is the professor's lecture, the second half being commentary by a police officer who confirms everything and then describes many (all perfectly legal) techniques for getting people to confess.

A primer on TV terminology

After reading discussion threads from many forums, it appears that a lot of people are unfamiliar with the terminology used to describe the different features of modern TVs. As a service to them, I present the following primer.

I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper

By Sarah Brightman (and Hot Gossip), 1978

Microsoft Surface - the sarcastic view