The topic pretty much says it all. I think I heard they were awhile back, but I can't really remember.

They are, but you can only download them once AFAIK, so make backups.

Yes they are, you can download them as many times as you want, plus they get stored in their cloud so you can listen to them wherever you are, as long as you have a browser window open to have their player running.

MP3's cannot be DRM'd, can they?

They can. With multiple ways. But most of the stores don't use it.

They watermark the file, though. It contains information about the buyer.

Yeah but nobody that I know of uses DRM on audio files anymore. Not even iTunes.

Only on the UK store. The US one automatically saves them to the cloud player, where they can be downloaded as many times as you wish.

And yes, they're DRM free.

iTunes also uses watermarking. They add to the file info about the buyer and transaction ID.

It's to help tracking pirates (easy way to know where file originated from)

Nothing wrong with that so long as it doesn't affect your ability to use your purchase how you see fit.

Nope, they are MP3s. That is DRM in itself. Which can be removed in like two seconds.

Amazon.com MP3s are not DRMed, they are, however, sometimes watermarked (depends on the publisher).

Watermarks can be removed fairly trivially, of course. This is old information and no longer correct, if you didn't use their client (back when they launched, they didn't have a Linux client, for example) you couldn't redownload. Now all your digital shit gets added to your "library" on your Amazon.com account, you can open that up and there's a tab for every kind of content.

Unfortunately, as Gremmi says, there's still no way for the purchases from Amazon.co.uk to be redownloaded (and I also can't use the US store for music because it's regionally restricted). *

I'm glad though that they at least allow redownloads for US/international customers.

* Can I download another copy of my MP3 files after the initial purchase?

Your Amazon MP3 purchases can only be downloaded once. After you have successfully downloaded the file to your computer at the time of purchase, we recommend that you create a backup copy.

That's shitty. I would never buy a mp3 from that store. When you pay for digital game/music you pay almost every time the exact same amount of money you would have to pay for hard copy. I accept that only because while paying for digital goods, you pay also for service. That means, among others, redownloads.

While I agree with you it sounds more like an issue with the publishing rights in the UK than Amazon.com being shitty on purpose. Since they're happily providing redownloads to the rest of the US, and I think several other countries as well, I'm going to give them a pass on this one.