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Hacker Claims He Shoved Amazon Into the Closet Using "Inappropriate" Flag Exploit
Amazon Unconvincingly Explains Its Bout of Homophobia Was Just a Glitch
Amazon Deems LGBT Books Too 'Adult' For Search, Best Seller Lists

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frigg
04/13/09

In reply to Hacker Claims He Shoved Amazon Into the Closet Using "Inappropriate" Flag Exploit
I knew it was John Mayer! I KNEW it!!!!!! I knew he had something to do with this!!!
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balls187
04/13/09

In reply to Hacker Claims He Shoved Amazon Into the Closet Using "Inappropriate" Flag Exploit
I read that NYT article. Scary stuff.
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Nick
04/13/09

In reply to Hacker Claims He Shoved Amazon Into the Closet Using "Inappropriate" Flag Exploit
we all would have been better served if this exploit was directed at oprah's book club.
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Gothamite88
04/13/09

@Nick: How? Really, how? As someone pointed out in the comments of his post; isn't hypocritical to get all upset that someone is doing this to the GLBT community and be perfectly fine with (even happy about) this happening to any other target because you don't like them? That the system could be screwed up for one group means that the system could be screwed up with for every group.
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something_unique_and_descriptive
04/13/09

@Gothamite88: Actually, that's his point. He could have gone after books on "Oprah's Book Club" or the "NYT Bestsellers" list to make the same point. Doing it that way would have made it instantly obvious that someone was exploiting Amazon's systems... instead he went after the LGBT books which many right wingers do consider inappropriate, thus opening up the possibility that it was intentional.

This was done with malice of forethought to damage Amazon's reputation, not to demonstrate an exploit.
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G.O.D.
04/13/09

In reply to Hacker Claims He Shoved Amazon Into the Closet Using "Inappropriate" Flag Exploit
Yes, will all the GLBT and supporters put down their pitchforks and torches please.
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elementary
04/13/09

@Hiroak: If this is true, keep the pitchforks, change the target.
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Sora57 is OK
04/13/09

In reply to Hacker Claims He Shoved Amazon Into the Closet Using "Inappropriate" Flag Exploit
The ingenuity of hackers will never flag.
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ZaxxonQ.com
04/13/09

In reply to Hacker Claims He Shoved Amazon Into the Closet Using "Inappropriate" Flag Exploit
Ah-ha! I knew Amazon wouldn't do that to me!

BTW, quick note before anyone looks up my book there, I have updated the paperback version to 2nd edition at [lulu.com] for FAR cheaper than the hardback Amazon 1st edition. ^_^
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cudthecrud
04/13/09

@Zaxxon Q Blaque: Shameless plug what?
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elementary
04/13/09

@cudthecrud: It's not a shameless plug. I actually plugged his book in the previous thread(it was relevant, go read), but I of course plugged the more expensive hardbound edition. He's simply pointing out to those that may have missed the update that there is a cheaper option.
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A Snake a Snake... OH it's a Snake!
04/13/09

@cdthcrd:

h-h! knw mzn wldn't d tht t m!

BTW, qck nt bfr nyn lks p my bk thr, hv pdtd th pprbck vrsn t 2nd dtn t www.mtspn.cm fr FR chpr thn th hrdbck mzn 1st dtn. ^_^
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
04/13/09

@A Snake a Snake... OH it's a Snake!: Except for that whole spinning cocks on your screen bit.
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A Snake a Snake... OH it's a Snake!
04/13/09

@Lite: does not like fishsticks...: Yeah, probably a little out of line with that post.

/being a douchebag
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eagles3 speeeedin
04/13/09

@A Snake a Snake... OH it's a Snake!: A link tag with a disguised url would have been so much cleverer. Although maybe a little more inappropriate, and slightly mean to any teenage girls reading. Wait are any teenage girls reading?
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
04/13/09

@eagles3: And likely ban-worthy at that point, not to mention you could could end up costing someone their job if inappropriate content pops up when the wrong person is wandering by.

Which, loses a little of its hilarity at that point.
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ZaxxonQ.com
04/13/09

@A Snake a Snake... OH it's a Snake!: That's a little out of line. Seriously.
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ZaxxonQ.com
04/13/09

@elementary: Thank you! ^_^
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xethanolx
04/13/09

In reply to Amazon Unconvincingly Explains Its Bout of Homophobia Was Just a Glitch
No wonder why my autobiography "Sausage Feast" never made it to the top Ten.
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frigg
04/13/09

@xethanolx: That's cause it was misclassified as a cookbook.
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bosskev
04/13/09

@xethanolx: "...why my autobiography "Sausage Feast" never made it to the top Ten."

Your autobiography got bumped due to its misleading title. Not so much as a sausage feast as a sausage snack.
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AmishJohn
04/13/09

@bosskev: Armour blocked him from calling it "Vienna Sausage Fest".
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Curves
04/13/09

In reply to Amazon Unconvincingly Explains Its Bout of Homophobia Was Just a Glitch
However it happened, it represents a tangible loss of income for Amazon in lost sales (all that disposable income that gays supposedly have,) and more expensive, the intangible, long run suspicion that Amazon is not gay-friendly. As a straight person, if I thought that Amazon was anti-gay I would not shop thre, as I would call that family UNfriendly. (Gays are families too!)
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robinandtami
04/13/09

In reply to Amazon Unconvincingly Explains Its Bout of Homophobia Was Just a Glitch
Damn! I used to like shopping on Amazon.
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shaithis
04/13/09

In reply to Amazon Unconvincingly Explains Its Bout of Homophobia Was Just a Glitch
Who cares! Like it actually matters one way or the other.
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elementary
04/13/09

@shaithis: Well apparently according to Amazon, it only matters one way, but not the other.
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b33rl0rd
04/13/09

In reply to Amazon Unconvincingly Explains Its Bout of Homophobia Was Just a Glitch
Do you think Barnes and Noble puts "All I Could Bare: My Life in the Strip Clubs of Gay Washington, D.C." at the front of the store where kids can ask mommy what a strip club is? Moron.
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elementary
04/13/09

@b33rl0rd: Yes, they do and should put books like this up for prominent display. Have you been to Bookstore in the past decade? The memoirs of former strippers have been quite common fare. How do I know this, it's not because it's a genre I routinely go looking for, it's because they have displayed them right up front.

There is nothing inappropriate about this title or the cover. You're scared that a child may read the words "strip club" and ask a question that leaves their parents stammering? So the child, completely clueless of the subject matter is not who you want to protect, it's the adult. I'm a parent. I think I could handle this question. You wouldn't be able to?
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bosskev
04/13/09

@elementary: +1
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SharkByte
04/13/09

@elementary: bravo, i applaud you.

@daveNYC: you on the other hand, your kid will probably be pregnant or will have impregnated someone by the age of 13 because you didn't want to explain how the world is to your child. i love parents who think, "if i don't tell my kids about sex and drugs they'll never find out." good job. moron...
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weatherman
04/13/09

@SharkByte: I think you either misunderstoond daveNYC's remark, or mis-atributed the original comment to him.

@elementary: yes, but the question is what if your kid asks "what is a gay strip club!?" Totally different question! ;)
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ZLevee
04/13/09

@b33rl0rd: Your comment shows ignorance of the situation.

It's not like anyone is saying Amazon should putting these books on their homepage. The problem is these titles won't show up with a public sales ranking or in the best-seller lists -- often a factor in how shoppers make their purchases.

Even a brick and mortar store will post a best-seller list (yes there have been controversies with stores editing that too, but generally a best seller list isn't messed with).
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elementary
04/13/09

In reply to Amazon Unconvincingly Explains Its Bout of Homophobia Was Just a Glitch
You give me the search results, and let me do my own filtering. It's not like Amazon has any truly pornographic material to peddle. This wasn't a "think of the children" policy, this was a "think of the easily morally outraged dipshits" policy.
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Hello Mister Walrus
04/13/09

@elementary: I am outraged by your insensitive comment! Why won't you think of the children? Why?
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bosskev
04/13/09

In reply to Amazon Unconvincingly Explains Its Bout of Homophobia Was Just a Glitch
If the subject of the book is essentially romance, the book should be considered mainstream. If the subject of the book is essentially sexually explicit content, then the book should be considered adult.

And notice that I did not qualify either the romance or the sexually explicit content by whether or not it was straight- or gay-themed--that aspect is completely irrelevant to the classification as either adult or mainstream. It seems Amazon, however temporarily, misunderstood such distinctions.
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weatherman
04/13/09

@bosskev: and where would you place books with the phrase "why don't you put that pipe down and get MY pipe UP!" in them?
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AmishJohn
04/13/09

@weatherman: I don't know... sounds like a Billy Ocean lyric. Perhaps in 'Music'?
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bosskev
04/13/09

@weatherman: In the Plumbing section.
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Jafro
04/13/09

@bosskev: I disagree with your definition of mainstream. Based on what you stated, the majority of Amazon shoppers looking for romance titles are either homosexual or approve of homosexuality. And the reality is... that just makes no sense whatsoever. I'm sure the number of minors that search romance titles would astound you. I'm sure the miniscule number of minors struggling to understand their sexuality would most likely be intelligent enough to search "gay romance". I don't believe for one second that straight-or-gay romance titles are on the same plane, and I doubt Amazon's marketing executives would, either.

The fact is, other gay titles were unaffected. This was 2 books. An error. This is a molehill turned into a mountain. I guess if you can't successfully condemn churches or government, then go after the private corporations to set your agenda.
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weatherman
04/13/09

@bosskev: zing! good one.

The correct answer, of course, is "Raunchy Books by Conservative Talk Show Hosts"
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bosskev
04/13/09

@Jafro: " Based on what you stated, the majority of Amazon shoppers looking for romance titles are either homosexual or approve of homosexuality."

Jafro, I must politey inquire, what the fuck are you talking about? I neither said nor implied any such thing. And I certainly didn't say that romance novels could not also be categorized in many other appropriate ways, just that it would be wrong to automatically smack a label of "Adult" on a book ONLY because the storyline included gay relationships. To be sure, the "Romance" books can certainly be sub-categorized by other elements, including a section/filter for "straight romance" and a section/filter for "gay romance". But please don't assume that a gay romance novel is necessarily sexually explicit, certainly not any more so than a Jackie Collins novel.

To be very clear as to my statment:

If it is sexually explict content, straight or gay, it's adult.

If it's romanctic content, straight or gay, it's mainstream.

And, for the record, there ARE gay men out there interested in ROMANCE with little or no desire for the sexually explicit crap.
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ZaxxonQ.com
04/13/09

In reply to Amazon Unconvincingly Explains Its Bout of Homophobia Was Just a Glitch
Wow! I wonder if they did that to my book?! It's poetry of my coming of age and discovering that I was gay, so the word "gay" is a keyword, or would it have to have the word "gay" in the title?
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Hello Mister Walrus
04/13/09

@Zaxxon Q Blaque: Would they have censored the biography of Tyson Gay?
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weatherman
04/13/09

@Zaxxon Q Blaque: I think it's enough for it just to have once had a homoerotic dream...
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elementary
04/13/09

@Zaxxon Q Blaque: When Amazon gives you lemons, make lemonade. Your book deserves a plug.

~Scribblings from a Sidewalk Notebook

It definately sounds like it's worth a read.
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ZaxxonQ.com
04/13/09

@elementary: LOL! Aww! Thanks! ^_^
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ZaxxonQ.com
04/13/09

@Zaxxon Q Blaque: There's a 2nd edition that's a WAY cheaper paperback at LULU.com/ZaxxonQ with more additions. ^_^
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Toastie
04/13/09

In reply to Amazon Unconvincingly Explains Its Bout of Homophobia Was Just a Glitch
They should have excluded any books with people in it just to make sure they had the "adult" content problem covered. I find they stopped short of what could have been the book burning of the 21st century.
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coyote1284: P.E.T.U.
04/13/09

@Toastie: Being unable to find a book on Amazon.com erradicates it completely from existance?

Whaaa... evil Amazon won't show or let me search for the GLBTQ book I want! How will I *ever* get a copy now? If only there were some sort of physical store that sold books...
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Toastie
04/13/09

@coyote1284: Did the Nazi's burning of non-approved works eliminate those works? No, unless they had the only copy that existed. I don't read the books effected by this, but I'm not one to wait for something to hurt me to speak out about it.
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coyote1284: P.E.T.U.
04/13/09

@Toastie: Ohh, nice Godwin, you win! How can I ever counter a straw-man argument like that? Of course! A single internet retailer not selling a product is *exactly* like Nazi book burnings! Why didn't I see it sooner?
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Curves
04/13/09

@Toastie: Because if you dont speak out for others, there will be no one left to speak out for you when they come after you or your "demographic".

I agree 100% and just clicked your little heart.
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ZLevee
04/13/09

@coyote1284: Singler Internet retailer? Try THE LARGEST internet retailer. That significantly reduces the effectiveness of your reply.
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