If you missed it--and if you're not a Twitter addict or a book industry nerd, you very well might have--there was a big furor about amazon.com's listings this week. In short, amazon.com reworked its algorithms to remove adult content from its search results, bestseller lists, and elsewhere on the site. But the definition of "adult content" was apparently quite broad and included a lot of reputable books on gay, lesbian, bi, and transgender subjects, as well as books including
Lady Chatterley's Lover. The Twitterverse went nuts.
Summaries of the whole episode are
here and
here, if you're interested. Or you can just scan this handy flowchart, courtesy of the
National Coalition against Censorship
Geeky, but does it really matter? Yes, says
Patrick at Vroman's Bookstore--and I agree. "Anytime you limit yourself to fewer suppliers, especially of something as vital as information ...., you’re putting yourself at the mercy of that provider." His full posting is
here.--David E
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