I would blame this on a badly designed system rather than deliberate attempt at ... | Hacker News

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vertis on Nov 29, 2012 | parent | context | favorite | on: B&N Decides That Purchased Ebooks Are Only Yours U...

I would blame this on a badly designed system rather than deliberate attempt at DRM.

i.e. Product owner goes to dev: We want to make sure that customers always have a valid credit card on file so that when they go to purchase it doesn't distract them (etc, etc).

Dev makes it so that you can't do anything with the website until you've updated your expired credit card.

aneth4 on Nov 29, 2012 | [–]

I agree and it created a shitty situation. But I have to believe B&N did not intentionally institute this policy and will quickly change it.

RexRollman on Nov 29, 2012 | [–]

Having worked at B&N, I believe this is the case, as a credit card is required to be on file even when paying for ebooks with a gift card.

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