A Wiki Hornet’s Nest

Eugene Robinson / Truthdig Dec 14, 2010 Do we want the people who run Amazon, PayPal, Facebook, Twitter or perhaps even -- shudder -- Microsoft, Apple or Google making political decisions on our behalf? Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

The WikiLeaks Hacker War Rages On

Staff / Truthdig Dec 10, 2010 They've successfully targeted MasterCard's and Visa's websites, but the coalition of hack-savvy cyber-protesters taking the name Anonymous apparently missed their mark when it came to tripping up monster e-retailer Amazon on Thursday. Updated with video Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Amazon Evicts WikiLeaks

Staff / Truthdig Dec 2, 2010 In addition to selling books, Amazon does a nice side business hosting websites. WikiLeaks was paying for space on Amazon servers this week until the retailer sent the leakers packing. No comment so far from Amazon, but WikiLeaks, now hosted in Sweden, responded with a dig about "the land of the free." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Falling in Love With the Kindle

Peter Z. Scheer / Truthdig Sep 7, 2010 I hated Amazon's first Kindle as much as my dad, an avid reader, writer and collector of books, loved it. For him, it was delivery on a very old promise. For me, its monochrome screen, beige plastic body and single-mindedness represented a technological regression. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Amazon Sells Many More Digital Books Than Hardcovers

Staff / Truthdig Jul 21, 2010 It looks like Amazon's e-book strategy is paying off. CEO Jeff Bezos revealed Monday that, "even while our hardcover sales continue to grow," his company sold 180 Kindle edition books for every 100 hardcovers last month. That figure has accelerated since Amazon dropped the price of its best-selling product, the Kindle e-book reader, by $70. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Competing Authors Pull a Karl Rove on … Karl Rove

Staff / Truthdig Mar 17, 2010 It's not too often that this combination of words issues from our fingers, but this ad is priceless The enterprising authors of "Rework," the book currently slotted in Amazon's No 2 position under Karl Rove's enormous, picture-free and heavy tome "Courage and Consequence," just might have pulled (continued). Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Tax War Goes Online

David Sirota / Truthdig Mar 12, 2010 Amazon has sent a message to states buckling under budget deficits: If you make us play by the same tax rules as other businesses, we'll punish you. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Halt! Who Grows There?

Staff / Truthdig Nov 28, 2009 Citing the fact that industrialized countries cause much more environmental destruction than loggers and farmers in the Amazon, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has called on Western countries -- "gringos" -- to help halt deforestation. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Are the Kindle’s Days Numbered?

Staff / Truthdig Sep 16, 2009 Although Kindle sales have seemed strong since its debut nearly two years ago, the future of Amazon's e-reader may not be rosy, according to The Atlantic's Kevin Maney, who sums up the "Kindle problem" thusly: "[I]n aiming to provide both a great experience and supreme convenience, it has achieved neither." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Teen Sues Amazon Over Orwell Recall

Staff / Truthdig Aug 4, 2009 Amazon's Kindle reader might still be a great device in the estimation of some literary aficionados, but the honeymoon is over for Michigan high school student (and potential member of Future Lawyers of America) Justin D. Gawronski, who's getting litigious with the online superseller after his copy of George Orwell's "1984" was yanked from his Kindle in July. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

A Victory for Peru’s Amazon Natives

Staff / Truthdig Jun 17, 2009 After at least 54 people were killed in a bloody roadblock protest earlier this month, native groups in Peru have won a commitment from the government to revoke laws that opened the Amazon to foreign oil and gas companies to exploit indigenous land for resources. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Amazon’s Gay ‘Glitch’ Puts Books in the Closet

Staff / Truthdig Apr 14, 2009 Amazon fell into hot water with the gay community after gay-themed books began disappearing from the site's sales rankings. Amazon blamed the problem on a "glitch" and has restored some of the titles, but one author says a representative from the site told him his work had been recategorized as "adult." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )