When the Kindle 2 was first announced, the device's new text-to-speech feature raised eyebrows in groups such as the Author's Guild, which were concerned that it would infringe on audiobook revenue.

Random House this week took a strong step against the feature, invoking the kill switch to remove the feature from at least 40 of its titles, including works by authors Toni Morrison and Stephen King--the latter of which has been a strong supporter of the device. The publisher has yet to officially announce the move, however.