<nettime> amazon decides to sell a book [digest]: dvornik, neilsen

["nettime's_barcode_reader" <nettime@Desk.nl>]

Srdjan Dvornik <sdvornik@zamir.net>
     Re: <nettime> Amazon knuckles under to Church of Scientology
Kirsten Neilsen <kirsten@Thinkbank.COM>
     Amazon reverses decision on book ban

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Date: Sun, 30 May 1999 14:57:29 +0200
From: Srdjan Dvornik <sdvornik@zamir.net>
Subject: Re: <nettime> Amazon knuckles under to Church of Scientology

whatever actions have been taken, something worked: today i found the book
displayed in a normal way (except that most of the readers' comments are
very recent and that there is a total polarization: either 1 or 5) and can
be ordered for $15.37 at

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/081840499X/qid%3D928068054/002-014985
5-8098426

it is good to know that something can be done sometimes :)

srdjan

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Date: Thu, 27 May 1999 12:11:59 -0700
From: Kirsten Neilsen <kirsten@Thinkbank.COM>
Subject: Amazon reverses decision on book ban

Amazon reverses decision on book ban

 By Charles Cooper [ZDnet]
                         
     
  05/20/99 07:30:00 PM

  Under pressure from  Netizens, online bookseller says it will again
offer controversial critique.

    After absorbing withering criticism for its decision to stop selling
a book critical of Scientology, Amazon.com has reversed its decision.

    The move to withdraw the book, "A Piece of Blue Sky," comes a day
after a report published in Wired News triggered a rash of postings on
Internet newsgroups. 

     The book, a critical examination of Scientology and its founder, L.
Ron Hubbard, was pulled by Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN) in February after an
injunction against its distribution in the United Kingdom. The courts
had ruled in 1995 that the book, authored by a British writer named Jon
Atack, contained defamatory language. 

       Amazon spokesman Bill Curry said the bookseller withdrew the book
after it learned this past February of the cease and desist order that
was in place in the U.K. 

        A closer look
                           
      "In February, with that information, it seemed like the right
decision at the time," he  said. Curry added, "current information in
the last couple of days fortunately caused us to take a closer look."

        He said Amazon will again offer the book after the company
implements a feature  that blocks its sale to the United Kingdom. 

           Curry said the original decision to stop selling the book was
not a mistake. "It seemed the right decision at the time," he said.
 "But like so many decisions," he continued, "once you start peeling a
decision, like  an onion, you say maybe there's a better way to handle
this." 

            A spokesman for the Scientology movement, Linda Peters, did
not have an immediate comment on the decision. 

   Amazon has an operation based in the United Kingdom.

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