13 April 200914 April 2009 Main Posts Amazon sex police Jeff Sparrow Amazon.com has apparently decided to protect its readers from themselves by removing any titles it considered ‘adult’ from its sales rankings, thus making them impossible to uncover through normal searchings. Funnily enough, this outbreak of Grundyism wipes out most of the titles aimed at a gay and lesbian readership. More than that, Amazon now hides GLBT titles but allows homophobic ones — you can’t search for Brokeback Mountain but you can find A Parent’s Guide To Preventing Homosexuality. There’s more info here. The reaction throughought blogosphere seems to be sufficiently intense that Amazon might have to reconsider. But this shabby little episode raises broader questions about the role of monopolies in the industry. Amazon hopes that its Kindle will become the standard platform for electrionic books. Think about the kind of power it will have over publishers. Would you trust them with it? Um… maybe not so much. [Update: Amazon seems to be blaming a software glitch. There’s also suggestions a hacker might be involved. The whole thing seems very weird.] Jeff Sparrow Jeff Sparrow is a Walkley Award-winning writer, broadcaster and former editor of Overland. More by Jeff Sparrow Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays First published in Overland Issue 228 11 November 202211 November 2022 Main Posts On the last day of Subscriberthon, our amazing online editor gives you one last (very good) reason to subscribe Editorial team What's in store for the last day of Subscriberthon? First published in Overland Issue 228 10 November 202210 November 2022 Main Posts On the second-last day of Subscriberthon, our favourite editor-duo give you reason #1002 to subscribe to Overland Editorial team What's in store for the second-last day of Subscriberthon?