Amid a scandalized outcry, Amazon this week stopped selling a book entitled The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover’s Code of Conduct, although they continue to sell an apologist treatise on the same subject. The former, self-published by Phillip Greaves, and the latter, written by David Riegel and published through the interestingly-named Safehaven Press, are at the center of the current tension between freedom of speech, protection of children, and Amazon’s duty, if any, in both.

We all receive them. Gifts that we really appreciate, but that we’ll never use. Did Great Aunt Martha send you a Snuggie? Uncle George sent you a Flowbee? What if you could exchange them before they ever arrive at your doorstep? What if you had a built in “unwanted gift detection and gift swapping system” that would deploy before the gift left the warehouse? That is exactly what Amazon’s new patented “System and method for converting gifts” does for you.

This summer Amazon reported that Kindle books were outselling regular books 2:1. Now Amazon is saying that the top 10 books selling on Kindle are outselling their paper book counterparts by that same 2:1 margin.

Hold onto your hats – and your books – because this just may shock you. Amazon this week released a report that says that sales of the Amazon Kindle versions of books are outselling hardcover books nearly 2:1!

Did you get an email from Amazon telling you about an order that you don’t remember ordering? That’s probably because you didn’t – it’s a phishing scam! Don’t fall for it! The “Your Amazon.com Order” email, which purportedly comes from “digital-no-reply@amazon.com” actually is an effort to get you to point your web browser to BookSalon.kr (the actual phishing URL is https://www.theinternetpatrol.com/brick-wall/.

Not content with sending fake Amazon confirmation emails, the outfit sending out the Canadian pharmacy spam is now sending out fake Amazon.com order cancellation emails, too, claiming that your Amazon order has been cancelled. “Amazon.com – Your Cancellation (0046-68878-96071)” says the email’s subject (although the “order number” may change) – but of course the link to check “ORDER INFORMATION” really takes you to a Canadian pharmacy spam site, hawking Viagra, Cialis and the like. In the example below, the fake cancellation contains links to https://www.theinternetpatrol.com/brick-wall/, which redirects to https://web.archive.org/web/20211230152715/http://weightbreezy.com/, which is a Canadian pharmacy spam site.

Colorado Amazon affiliates got the news this morning – Amazon has cancelled all Amazon associate (affiliate) accounts for all affilliates who are based in Colorado. The move came after the passage of Colorado law HB 10-1193, even though – as we read it – the affilliate language was removed from HB 10-1193 before it was passed!

A spate of fake “Amazon.com – Your Confirmation” emails is making the rounds – they are phishing emails, with the supposed ‘Amazon’ links actually being hidden links going to such interesting places as http://drevmash.alfaspace.net/admiral.html, https://www.theinternetpatrol.com/brick-wall/, and meeknew.com. The subject (which so far appears to use the same “confirmation” number for everyone), is “Amazon.com – Your Confirmation (0113-567494-3518071)” and supposedly comes from the email address order-update@amazon.com. In reality, they are coming from IP address 124.217.216.112, and the emails are sent from (almost certainly spoofed) email addresses such as claude.simpson@ameritrade.com and lwjtvbwrqksz@young-world.com.

Last week we reported that the Amazon Kindle was getting an app store and lots of new applications, and we asked the question, “but why?” Among other things, we pointed out that with the lack of a touch screen, any applications for the Kindle would be severely limited in terms of functionality, usefulness, and just plain fun. (You can read our discussion of Amazon announcing Applications for the Kindle here.) Well, guess what. It seems that the Kindle is getting a touch screen.

In case you haven’t heard yet, Amazon has announced that the Amazon Kindle is about to be opened up to 3rd-party developers, and to have its own Kindle app store, so as to create a whole new generation of Kindle applications. Which means that, yay, you’ll be able to play Sudoku on your Kindle – but without a touch screen what’s the point? – while you still can’t perform such basic no-brainers such as making a gift of a book to someone else on their Kindle.

Amazon Associates rejoice (or not) – Amazon just added a “Share on Twitter” link to the Amazon affiliate toolbar that appears at the top of every Amazon product page, with the Amazon associate’s Amazon affiliate tag (i.d.) already embedded in the link, so that when you hit the “Share on Twitter” link, the Amazon link to whatever product it is goes out to all of your Twitter followers with your Amazon associate i.d. already embedded within the link. We’re just surprised that it took Amazon so long to jump on this bandwagon! (Ah, the downside of the inertia of an enormous, publicly held company.)

Amazon’s Kindle reader has the ability to do text-to-speech, meaning that it can read books outloud to you. Perfect for those who are sight-impaired or blind, right? Well, it would be, except accessing the text-to-speech function requires navigating menus that only a sighted-person can easily navigate. That is not only the finding of schools participating in an Amazon Kindle trial program, but the complaint of a lawsuit which has now been filed against at least one of the schools participating in the trial.

Amazon has closed a chapter of its history that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has called “stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles.” Bezos was, of course, referring to Amazon’s removing, without warning, copies of Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm from the Kindles of nearly 2000 customers.

Almost a year ago, Amazon introduce its frustration free packaging. Now Amazon wants you to let them know how they’re doing, with the Amazon Packaging Feedback program, through which you can let Amazon know whether your order arrived in packaging that was too big, too small, or just right.

In a scene that seems straight out of, well, 1984, Amazon reached out across its WhisperNet network and removed all copies of Animal Farm and 1984 itself from every Kindle and Kindle 2 which had purchased and downloaded the books from Amazon. So high school student Justin Gawronski has sued them, claiming in his lawsuit that the loss of his copy of 1984 has cost him far more than the cost of the book, and includes the loss of all of the notes he’d taken and attached to the book on his Kindle, and the value of the effort in creating them.