Amazon blames human error for LGBT derankings | Retailer to publish uncensored doujinshi in English

A few more interesting links on the whole AmazonFail debacle…

At various news outlets, Amazon is blaming the delistings on a “glitch.”  At the Seattle PI, a spokesperson offers a more detailed explanation: it was the fault of the French arm of Amazon… specifically, it may be an editing error by a single employee.  There are still lingering doubts and inconsistencies for some.  Dear Author brings up past episodes of similar manipulations.  Vroman’s Bookstore blog writes the fiasco demonstrates the dangers of near-monopolies.

Meanwhile, this livejournal entry describes how fringe “morality” groups have trolled companies in the past, and thinks Amazon may be vulnerable to such tactics.

Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt, and say that this is indeed the result of personnel error… I wonder if this event isn’t a good argument against having such policies for adult products in the first place?  As long as the loophole exists, it may be nefariously exploited by special interest groups, by users with an axe to grind, by rogue or careless employees, even by unscrupulous competitors.  There are many ways to make adult products “discreet,” without making them nearly impossible to find.

Regardless, Amazon is restoring the affected books to their proper rankings, but the damage has been done.  Whether the effects linger or not, some are already seeking to immortalize it… online retailer JList is already offering an Amazonfail t-shirt.

Man, I wonder what it feels like to be a gay, hearing-impaired, porn-loving Amazon shareholder right now.

Edit: Gia notes in the comment section that a hacker has claimed responsibility.  True or not, Gawker says the flagging system used to tag products as “inappropriate” has been disabled.  Loophole closed?

Edit 2: The Seattle PI has more from an anonymous tipster inside Amazon, who claims the mass deranking really was a simple, single human error which affected over 57,000 products.

Why this error seemed to disproportionately target gay/lesbian-positive books is still an area of concern, although there is one very remote explanation… perhaps people simply found more instances of the glitch in the genre because they were actively looking for it, since the news began within gay/lesbian writer circles (The Beat points out one victim that wasn’t an LGBT title… Craig Yoe’s Secret Identity).  All of this serves as a good reminder of Hanlon’s Razor, but considering how often the LGBT community seems to be victims of such random “glitches,” they are perfectly right to be skeptical.  And all the authors affected still deserve a thorough and very public apology.

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Rocket Bomber talks gross and net margins and returns at bookstores.  1% profit is supposedly the industry average profit… that’s awfully frightening.

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According to the Manila Standard Today, the Phillipines is banning all Japanese pornographic manga and anime as part of a greater anti-child porn law.  My heart goes out to my Pinoy brethren. (Found via AnimeVice)

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Online retailer JList has secured publication rights to doujinshi by LINDA Project, offering the circle’s works in English and French, and without any censorship, in DRM-free downloads.

LINDA Project has a curious reputation among some, as a circle which actively goes after illicit online scans of their manga and doujinshi.  A common retort has been that their works were not available legally to Western readers… now that argument may no longer hold water.

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Anime On DVD looks at the ebook options available to manga readers, and the approaches of various publishers such as Netcomics and Infinity Studios, which I still find somewhat perplexing.  I do wonder if their eBook-on-a-DVD has been successful in converting their print readers…