Quote:
Originally Posted by dgatwood
As for whether it is a threat to freedom of expression, I would say that it is, but only because Amazon has placed themselves in a position where they have the unique ability to seriously limit freedom of expression. This is not to say that they are doing so, nor that they plan to do so, but rather that no company should have that much power to do so, because it only takes one CEO change to seriously screw things up.
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I have nothing good to say about any of the points you raised in the part of your post I have not quoted. Others have dealt with these and there is little I can add.
However, to actually seriously argue that Amazon is a threat to freedom of expression and culture is a most impressive exercise in mental gymnastics. Traditional publishing rejects 99% of works submitted. Amazon, on the other hand, will let an author publish just about anything. The result is more ideas, more diversity, more freedom of expression and at prices so much more affordable. Technological advances have made this wide freedom of expression possible, and Amazon has embraced this technology more than any other company. Amazon is a threat because they allegedly have the power to limit freedom of expression, even though even your argument seems to acknowledge that their is no indication that they would attempt to exercise this power even if they did possess it? But they do not. There are many places to buy books other than Amazon. If Amazon did start to threaten free speech, rejected authors would find other places to help them publish. Buyers would purchase elsewhere, me amongst them. But it is a travesty to seek to portray a business which has done and is still doing so much for freedom of expression, culture and diversity as an enemy of free expression!
Amazon is not perfect. Nor is democracy nor market economies. It seems to me that many of the criticisms of Amazon have become increasingly generic attacks on corporations and the market economy generally, often by people who seem to scorn both whilst enjoying their benefits.