I’ve been reading about this gawdawful mess on writers’ blogs and on AW all weekend. And I agree with Scott Westerfeld and a lot of other folks that the point where Amazon went too far was when they delisted EVERY Macmillan title from their site, paper or electronic, as a tactic to pressure the publisher into agreeing to their terms.
What I haven’t heard anyone say yet (and I’ll admit to not following every single crosslink in this wide-ranging discussion) is that this sounds an awful lot like the business practices that Wal-Mart has been notorious for using in the past. I hate Wal-Mart with the same sort of passion with which I hate the big tobacco, oil, and insurance companies.
And Amazon has now distinguished itself enough to join them.
