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• Will individuals soon be able to buy and sell “used” digital media such as apps, ebooks, and music downloads? And if so, will they only be able to do this through Amazon? These are among the questions being asked after Amazon, Inc. was awarded a U.S. patent for an “electronic marketplace for used digital objects.” (U.S. Patent No. 8,364,595, available online at http://www.uspto.gov). The patent, which traveled a nearly 4-year journey from application to issuance, would permit users to create “personalized data stores”—presumably through Amazon—which would house digital media files and permit the files to be moved from one person’s store to another through a secure system. The granting of the patent, however, does not mean that Amazon will actually establish the marketplace, or that the use of the marketplace would be legal.

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