The graphical pieces of the kindle (Yes, the one that displays the ads), is based upon awesome, which is GPL’d software. Let me cite the license agreement Amazon agreed to when they made the kindle based on this software:

* This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
* it under the terms of…

The Kindle is based on GPL licensed software, which means that I have the right to change the software in any way I’d like. Amazon recognizes this as they would be nothing without GPL’d software.

The whole point of the GPL, which amazon has built it’s empire upon is to make it hard for companies to restrict the users…