Monday, April 13, 2009

"Amazon Fail"

Since all you kids are on Twitter, I'm sure this is old news, but, if somehow you missed it, check out: Amazon Fail. In a nutshell, Amazon.com is apparently removing the sales ranking from books it deems "adult," though read how this has actually played out (ie only queer-friendly books are getting hit) and how it's supposedly "just a glitch."

My thoughts on the matter are pretty simple. Censoring never stopped anyone from being queer (or "adult" for that matter.) We were queer before the Internets and before the printing press. (As I posted on Facebook: "We conquered much of Europe and parts of Asia before we were twenty, thank you very much.") And, though surely it saddens those who prefer a homogeneous world, we'll be queer even if there's some horrifically restrictive apocalyptic future. Censoring our books is not going to change anything.

3 comments:

Douglas Hulick said...

As I posted on my LJ, I have seen at least one interesting theory behind Amazon Fail that doesn't involve censoring, but rather deliberate sophisticated trolling. I don't pretend to know what came down behind the doors at Amazon, but in the interest of porviding alternate views, I'm including the link.

My brief post on the matter:
http://swords-and-pens.livejournal.com/103440.html

A direct link to the alternate theory:
http://tehdely.livejournal.com/88823.html

Douglas Hulick said...

Oops, I didn't embed the links.

Try #2:

My LJ

Alternate theory about Amazon Fail.

Laura Bradley Rede said...

Amen, sister Tate.