Today’s blacklisted American: Right-of-center books banned by Amazon
No first amendment on Amazon.
Blacklists are back and Amazon’s got ’em: Yesterday my blacklist column noted how Amazon has blackballed the live stream of a film biography of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
That however is not the only example of Amazon’s anti-free speech agenda and its desire to silence conservative thought. In recent months book authors and publishers have repeatedly discovered that Amazon has been either banning outright their books, or shadow-banning them from searches so that potential customers cannot find them.
The link gives about a number of examples, but a quick internet search finds numerous others (see for example here, here, and here).
Only rarely will Amazon admit to this censorship, and when it does, it does so by claiming vague rules about preventing “hate speech,” even though this giant online store has done nothing to remove books and products promoting Islamic terrorism, Nazi paraphernalia, and Antifa-supporting materials.
While normally it should be Amazon’s right, as a private book-seller and vendor, to carry and sell whatever it wants, its dominance in the publishing industry is so complete that it essentially holds a monopoly on book sales. If Amazon bans your book or film or documentary, it essentially bans you entirely. Few others will see it. It will get almost no distribution.
Our anti-trust laws were created expressly to prevent such monopolies. Amazon shouldn’t be destroyed, but things would be much better if it was broken up into a number of different companies. For example, as a book seller it really shouldn’t also be a publisher. The power it gains from controlling both is very unhealthy.
In fact, it was this exact issue that caused the courts in the late 1940s to break up the Hollywood studio system. At that time the movie companies that made films also owned the theaters they were shown in. Independent filmmakers had no venues to show their movies. The courts ruled that the studios could make films, but they must divest themselves of their theaters.
The same should be done to Amazon, as well as all internet publishers and book sellers. Do one, or do the other, but not both.
In the case of Amazon, it might also be wise to break up its sales division in some manner. It certainly is not good that it now seems to have a lock on the entire market share of book sales, nationwide.
Too bad our elected officials, both Democrats and Republicans, appear unwilling or hostile to enforcing those anti-trust laws. The Democrats support Amazon’s blacklisting efforts, while too many Republicans have been bought off by the money they get from these big tech corporations. Nothing gets done, and big tech companies like Amazon continue to gain power so that they can increasingly stamp their boot on the people they do not like.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
No first amendment on Amazon.
Blacklists are back and Amazon’s got ’em: Yesterday my blacklist column noted how Amazon has blackballed the live stream of a film biography of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
That however is not the only example of Amazon’s anti-free speech agenda and its desire to silence conservative thought. In recent months book authors and publishers have repeatedly discovered that Amazon has been either banning outright their books, or shadow-banning them from searches so that potential customers cannot find them.
The link gives about a number of examples, but a quick internet search finds numerous others (see for example here, here, and here).
Only rarely will Amazon admit to this censorship, and when it does, it does so by claiming vague rules about preventing “hate speech,” even though this giant online store has done nothing to remove books and products promoting Islamic terrorism, Nazi paraphernalia, and Antifa-supporting materials.
While normally it should be Amazon’s right, as a private book-seller and vendor, to carry and sell whatever it wants, its dominance in the publishing industry is so complete that it essentially holds a monopoly on book sales. If Amazon bans your book or film or documentary, it essentially bans you entirely. Few others will see it. It will get almost no distribution.
Our anti-trust laws were created expressly to prevent such monopolies. Amazon shouldn’t be destroyed, but things would be much better if it was broken up into a number of different companies. For example, as a book seller it really shouldn’t also be a publisher. The power it gains from controlling both is very unhealthy.
In fact, it was this exact issue that caused the courts in the late 1940s to break up the Hollywood studio system. At that time the movie companies that made films also owned the theaters they were shown in. Independent filmmakers had no venues to show their movies. The courts ruled that the studios could make films, but they must divest themselves of their theaters.
The same should be done to Amazon, as well as all internet publishers and book sellers. Do one, or do the other, but not both.
In the case of Amazon, it might also be wise to break up its sales division in some manner. It certainly is not good that it now seems to have a lock on the entire market share of book sales, nationwide.
Too bad our elected officials, both Democrats and Republicans, appear unwilling or hostile to enforcing those anti-trust laws. The Democrats support Amazon’s blacklisting efforts, while too many Republicans have been bought off by the money they get from these big tech corporations. Nothing gets done, and big tech companies like Amazon continue to gain power so that they can increasingly stamp their boot on the people they do not like.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
All true but having concluded that the Republican party is mostly worthless, people have to go it alone. Think I’ve said things like the below on other posts here, so please forgive me.
If you are looking for physical books try Barnes and Noble, Books a Million or even Half Priced Books (you’d be surprised how fast new books go to used books). Also if you are in a medium sized city or larger, there probably exists a few hardy independent book sellers who would generally be eager to help you get any book you want for a small cut. Finally book publishers often have a direct sale division.
If, like me, you prefer ebooks because of home storage constraints or eye sight or whatever, try Barnes and Noble, Blackwells in the UK, eBooks.com, Smashwords (a great place to self publish your book too), BookBubs (which aggregates lots of different ebook sellers that you may not know about), maybe Kobo but never had a lot of luck with them.
None of these are slam dunk one stop shopping like Amazon, but if Amazon has banned or shadow banned the book, what good is one stop shopping at Amazon? These alternative sites may charge a couple of dollars more than Amazon but your freedom is worth that isn’t it?
Thanks for your attention and God Bless our Republic
PS
Who killed Ashli Babbett?
ThriftBooks.com is my go to.
Closed my Amazon account last year, ditto Facebook, both are the face of evil.
Whenever I see the worm that owns WaPo, I always think “Rosebud” and can’t believe anyone takes it seriously.
Thanks for your site, God Bless.
I’ve been collecting conservative and non-PC movies on disc for posterity and ordered a copy of the Academy Award winning anti-communist film “The Lives of Others” from Amazon. What I got was formatted for “Playback Region B/2” and won’t work on American equipment. I figured I’d ordered the wrong thing and went back to look, but it turns out that Amazon doesn’t sell American versions of this film anymore. You can pay to see in on Prime, but you can’t own a copy. I don’t like to go around talking about conspiracy theories, but this sure would make it a lot easier to memory hole this movie later.
BTW, I did find an app that allowed me to watch the movie on my computer. I recommend this film highly, not just as an anti-Marxist piece, but because it’s a very well made movie overall.
I buy most of my physical books second-hand. I used to go to abebooks until I learned that it’s owned by Amazon. I have found that most of the books I want are available at Wonder Book and Video, a great used book store I used to frequent in person when I lived near Frederick, Maryland, that added online selling some years ago. It has a couple million used books in stock, ships free, and is slightly pricier than abebooks but that’s okay. Wonderbk.com.
Skunk Bucket–
One can change the “Region” settings on a DVD player in a computer. (For a stand-alone player, you have to flash the firmware = more steps but doable.)
-Only familiar with Windows machines but you can do it on a MAC (and Linux) as well.
For Windows– go into the “properties” tab for your DVD player; click “properties” then select “hardware” and then “properties” (of the hardware) again–you’ll see a Tab with “DVD Regions.” (The World is divided into 8 “dvd regions.”) Select your Region and Play.
–>You can change the setting up to 5 (five) times total, but whatever the setting is on for your 5th change, will become permanent.
IIRC, –> VLC Player will ignore the dvd-region setting on playback.