Amazonfail
ETA2: So, a lot of people are doubting on this theory. I think it covers the "Why things were deranked months ago" and "Why Amazon is claiming that it removes 'adult material'" arguments pretty well, but I know little to nothing about the computer coding, so that part doesn't stand up, indeed. PERHAPS WE SHALL NEVER KNOW.
Anyway, I leave the following, so that if I am someday proven to be right, I can be all "I told you so whoooo". Because I am a mature adult.
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So it seems Amazon's failure is not in hatin' on the gays, but mostly in using easily abused code.
weev (who many of you might remember as a vocal participant in the LJ elections debacle (and, visit his LJ at your own risk - he presents himself as a racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-semitic (though if zahdi or bitterhader have anything to contribute on that count, I would be happy to hear it, because I just can't read the guy - I've met him, and while I didn't much like the guy, he wasn't blatantly offensive))) has taken responsibility, and he's pretty well known among certain circles for this sort of thing - he's a leader-of-sorts, perhaps, of Bantown, a group of trolls who've done things like hacking LJ and claiming they'd found multiple vulnerabilities in Firefox. I remember seeing last night that they were possibly behind Strikethrough, though most of the websites I was looking at are blocked by my work web filter, so I can't verify that. It's pretty much the same theory tehdely gave last night.
Anyway, weev's explanation of what he did 1) seems like it would work, so far as I can tell (CompSci friends of mine, confirm?), 2) seems like his usual M.O., down to the specific targeting of GBLT works, and 3) makes a lot more sense than Amazon just deranking a ton of stuff for shits and giggles. The reason you're not seeing a place to flag something on amazon as inappropriate anymore seems to be because Amazon removed the button when they realized they'd been had. I buy it, is what I'm saying.
Books that had their rankings removed before this weekend were likely either Bantown test runs or books that legitimately had several different people mark them as inappropriate. So what Amazon is guilty of isn't homophobia, or censorship - it's having a system implemented that is easily exploited, and that doesn't have a human eye checking things anywhere between user reporting and removal of ranking. I would venture that somebody reviews the changes somewhere down the line (or if somebody complains - some removed rankings have been reinstated after a complaint, but it definitely isn't happening on the front end.
I find Bantown kind of fascinating. They mostly seem to do things for the lulz, which irks me, but they are pointing out massive security holes in some pretty major websites - holes which would be ignored if the sites just had people emailing to say "Hey, we COULD exploit this".
It's too bad Amazon will likely lose business over this - I wonder, since weev has taken responsibility, if Amazon could sue? I wouldn't be surprised. I'm not saying Amazon should keep our business - just that if it's going to lose business, it should be because supporting local businesses is better for your local economy (and your sooooul!), Amazon gives little back to charity or its community, and isn't releasing any kind of statement saying "Hey, guys, it really was a glitch, but we still fucked up - the glitch was preventable".
If I were a sociologist or something, I would be all over this story. It has a Giant Corporation! Internet trolls! PISSED OFF MASSES! Fascinating, y'all.
ETA: The code as provided by weev doesn't actually work. But there is the possibility that he gave the wrong code on purpose - the poster who checked the code doesn't say that what weev claims to have done was outright impossible. I am less convinced than I formerly was, but don't think it's completely disproven. At the very least, it is interesting that this seems to be something people believe Bantown would do.
Anyway, I leave the following, so that if I am someday proven to be right, I can be all "I told you so whoooo". Because I am a mature adult.
*******
So it seems Amazon's failure is not in hatin' on the gays, but mostly in using easily abused code.
weev (who many of you might remember as a vocal participant in the LJ elections debacle (and, visit his LJ at your own risk - he presents himself as a racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-semitic (though if zahdi or bitterhader have anything to contribute on that count, I would be happy to hear it, because I just can't read the guy - I've met him, and while I didn't much like the guy, he wasn't blatantly offensive))) has taken responsibility, and he's pretty well known among certain circles for this sort of thing - he's a leader-of-sorts, perhaps, of Bantown, a group of trolls who've done things like hacking LJ and claiming they'd found multiple vulnerabilities in Firefox. I remember seeing last night that they were possibly behind Strikethrough, though most of the websites I was looking at are blocked by my work web filter, so I can't verify that. It's pretty much the same theory tehdely gave last night.
Anyway, weev's explanation of what he did 1) seems like it would work, so far as I can tell (CompSci friends of mine, confirm?), 2) seems like his usual M.O., down to the specific targeting of GBLT works, and 3) makes a lot more sense than Amazon just deranking a ton of stuff for shits and giggles. The reason you're not seeing a place to flag something on amazon as inappropriate anymore seems to be because Amazon removed the button when they realized they'd been had. I buy it, is what I'm saying.
Books that had their rankings removed before this weekend were likely either Bantown test runs or books that legitimately had several different people mark them as inappropriate. So what Amazon is guilty of isn't homophobia, or censorship - it's having a system implemented that is easily exploited, and that doesn't have a human eye checking things anywhere between user reporting and removal of ranking. I would venture that somebody reviews the changes somewhere down the line (or if somebody complains - some removed rankings have been reinstated after a complaint, but it definitely isn't happening on the front end.
I find Bantown kind of fascinating. They mostly seem to do things for the lulz, which irks me, but they are pointing out massive security holes in some pretty major websites - holes which would be ignored if the sites just had people emailing to say "Hey, we COULD exploit this".
It's too bad Amazon will likely lose business over this - I wonder, since weev has taken responsibility, if Amazon could sue? I wouldn't be surprised. I'm not saying Amazon should keep our business - just that if it's going to lose business, it should be because supporting local businesses is better for your local economy (and your sooooul!), Amazon gives little back to charity or its community, and isn't releasing any kind of statement saying "Hey, guys, it really was a glitch, but we still fucked up - the glitch was preventable".
If I were a sociologist or something, I would be all over this story. It has a Giant Corporation! Internet trolls! PISSED OFF MASSES! Fascinating, y'all.
ETA: The code as provided by weev doesn't actually work. But there is the possibility that he gave the wrong code on purpose - the poster who checked the code doesn't say that what weev claims to have done was outright impossible. I am less convinced than I formerly was, but don't think it's completely disproven. At the very least, it is interesting that this seems to be something people believe Bantown would do.