Amazon offers refund or redelivery for Kindle's deleted Orwell

In an apology, Amazon has offered to redeliver copies of George Orwell novels that were mistakenly deleted from Kindle owners' libraries, or provide a gift certificate or check for $30.

In July, Amazon received a torrent of criticism over its decision to delete copies of 1984 and Animal Farm from Kindles after it discovered that certain versions of those ebooks were added to the Kindle library by an unauthorised publisher.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos apologised for the move in an email to Kindle owners on Thursday, a copy of which was provided to silicon.com sister site CNET News by a reader.

Photo story

Photos: Amazon's e-book reader re-Kindled

• More Photos

"This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our 'solution' to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we've received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission," Bezos wrote.

Those who purchased the deleted copies can email Amazon to declare whether they would like another copy, or the $30 gift certificate or check.

Original article: Amazon apologizes for deleting Kindle e-books from CNET News.com