With Kindles apparently selling like hotcakes this holiday season, Amazon.com is trying to make a complaint about cracked Kindles go away. The online retail giant has reached an "agreement in principle" with a Seattle man who sued the company back in July, alleging that a Kindle he bought his wife as a birthday gift developed cracks and eventually froze up due to an ill-fitting Kindle cover.

No details yet on the terms of the settlement. The plaintiff, Matthew Geise, had sought unspecified damages and class action status for the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Seattle. Perhaps Amazon will take the opportunity to set Kindle policy, like it did with the settlement over its Orwellian book deletions.

The joint status report (pdf, 3 pages) in the Geise case, filed Dec. 18, says the two sides are "working on papers to document and finalize a settlement" and asks the court to give them until Jan. 8, 2010.

Michael Daudt, an attorney with the law firm Terrell Marshall & Daudt who is representing Geise, had no comment on the court filing. Amazon and its attorney James Grant of Davis Wright Tremaine did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to the lawsuit, (pdf, 14 pages), Geise bought a Kindle for $359 in February (before Amazon knocked $100 off the price) along with a $29.99 official Kindle leather case for his wife. About three months later, his wife noticed the Kindle was cracking at or near where the cover attached to the Kindle. Shortly after, the screen froze and the reader stopped working.

The couple contacted Amazon customer service, and were told that the damage was not covered by warranty but that they could pay a $200 service fee to receive a new Kindle, the lawsuit states.

Back in July, Amazon declined to comment on the litigation but encouraged "anyone who has an issue with the cover attachment mechanism to return the cover and device for a free replacement so we can investigate further."

Amazon this fall settled another Kindle-related lawsuit, over its deletion of George Orwell novels from people's Kindles. A Michigan high school student sued the online retailer, claiming the removal of "1984" ate his notes as well. As part of the settlement of that suit, Amazon pledged to "not remotely delete or modify" works on Kindles, with some exceptions.

Follow my updates on Twitter.