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To me, the larger point is that Amazon is 1) not being transparent and 2) not offering any choice.
Amazon is not being transparent because they aren't making it clear and obvious to their users that the "basic search" results are filtered. Amazon carries adult material; for godssake, they have an entire store full of sex toys. So a reasonable user might expect that when you search, you're searching everything, not just what Amazon deems it "safe" for you to search. If they are going to do this, at a very minimum, they should TELL THEIR CUSTOMERS about it.
Amazon is not offering a choice about this either, which is the second problem. Why don't I get to choose what, if anything, I want filtered? Why the assumption that gay erotica bothers me, but Ann Coulter does not? If Amazon is going to do this, they should offer a preferences choice about what's included and what's not in the default search.
I do not think that this entire affair was some evil anti-gay conspiracy. I think it was, largely, a series of technical blunders. That said -- I think Amazon has handled this horribly -- slow to respond, unclear responses, and then fairly arrogant responses that ignored that what had happened had caused great offense and hurt in some quarters.
I'm not boycotting Amazon, but I am dealing with them now with my eyes wide open. They no longer have the trust and confidence I once placed in them; they are no longer my automatic first choice.
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