Feds Withdraw Amazon Subpoena

Federal prosecutors have withdrawn a subpoena seeking information on thousands of Amazon customers' book-buying habits, MarketWatch reports. The US Attorney's office had sought information on the purchasers of 24,000 used books in connection with a grand-jury probe of a third-party seller on Amazon. But the judge rejected the request, calling it "Orwellian."

If he had approved the subpoena, the judge wrote, "the chilling effect on expressive e-commerce would frost keyboards across America." The judge rejected the request in July and has now unsealed the subpoena request, against prosecutors' wishes. The Amazon third-party seller was nevertheless indicted after police seized one of his computers. (More Amazon.com stories.)