WikiLeaks, the nonprofit site that publishes leaked government documents, was booted off Amazon.coma4ぎa4г cloud computing services today following political pressure from Senator Joe Lieberman.
Personally, Ia4ぎa4m disappointed by Amazona4ぎa4г action, because I think WikiLeaks performs a valuable service. (Gawkera4ぎa4г Ryan Tate has a great post highlighting why the move is hypocritical.) At the same time, I realize that this is a complicated, sensitive issue, and that Amazon may only have done what it believed was legally required or morally right.
Too bad the company isna4ぎa4д explaining itself at all.
We emailed an Amazon spokesperson for comment, but they didn&'t respond. The company also declined to comment on its relationship with WikiLeaks to the Associated Press, and hasn&'t released a statement to any news organization as far as I can tell. (The announcement, such as it was, came from Sen. Liebermana4ぎa4г office.)
This seems to have become Amazona4ぎa4г standard approach to controversial decisions &8212' just refuse to comment and hope that things blow over. For example, when it temporarily pulled books published by Macmillan from its website while the companies were in the middle of tense pricing negotiations, Amazon didna4ぎa4д announce what it was doing, it didna4ぎa4д respond to requests from more information from reporters or authors, and instead it posted a passive-aggressive comment on the Kindle forum.
More recently, when Amazon came under fire for selling a self-published a4ぎApedophile guidea4ぎ, it again declined to comment, and instead pulled the book without explanation.
In this case, Ia4ぎa4d be particularly concerned if I was a Web company hosted by Amazon or thinking about signing up with them. If therea4ぎa4г controversial content on my website, is Amazon going to take it down as soon as ita4ぎa4г pressured Political blog Talking Points Memo points out that Amazona4ぎa4г terms of service prohibit illegal activity, but ita4ぎa4г not clear yet whether WikiLeaks has done anything illegal.
Meanwhile, the WikiLeaks site is back up on a Swedish hosting service, and unlike Amazon, the organization has been very open about what it thinks. On its Twitter account, WikiLeaks said, a4ぎAIf Amazon are so uncomfortable with the first amendment, they should get out of the business of selling books.a4ぎ
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Companies: Amazon.com, WikiLeaks
People: Joe Lieberman
Companies: Amazon.com, WikiLeaks
People: Joe Lieberman
Anthony is VentureBeat's assistant editor, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining VentureBeat in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.
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