Amazon: The Wal-Mart of the Internet

WHY SO MANY BOYCOTT AMAZON CALLS?

There are increasing calls to boycott Amazon, but I had no idea just how many different issues are involved and how serious they are until I started researching this post.

Image Credit: Broken Sword Publications ~ Click Image to Read Amazon Threats to Publishers

Just like Wal-Mart, Amazon engages in unethical and unfair practices.

If you are not familiar with the reasons many people – myself included – boycott Wal-Mart please read my post about How WalMart Practices affect small business and local tax revenues.

AMAZON CENSORSHIP: DELETES KINDLE BOOKS

In Why Amazon Went Big Brother, Arstechnica wrote:

“Amazon.com shocked customers yesterday when it reached out to hundreds, if not thousands of Kindles and simply deleted texts that users had not only purchased, but had started to read!”

The New York Times reported:

In George Orwell’s “1984,” government censors erase all traces of news articles embarrassing to Big Brother by sending them down an incineration chute called the “memory hole.”

On Friday, it was “1984” and another Orwell book, “Animal Farm,” that were dropped down the memory hole — by Amazon.com.

Amazon customers were so outraged that Amazon Said They Will Stop Deleting Kindle Books. When they start editing books you already bought how many will notice? Almost NONE!

MUST READ: Amazon moving to force authors to use THEM as their publisher

SMALL BUSINESS INDIE BOOK SELLER BOYCOTT

This week, Small Business supporters called for a boycott of Amazon because of their recent targeting of all small businesses that sell books, electronics and anything else Amazon offers.

Sarah Woodbury called Amazon’s tactic of offering buyers a discount for reporting prices and not buying from local businesses “a pretty low blow—despicable—…” in her comprehensive post on her Word Hits book review blog about Amazon’s Price Check App:

“Amazon wants shoppers to scan the price of electronics, toys, or dvd’s
with their Price Check app (thus sending them [Amazon] this data) -
and then walk out of the store to get a discount of up to $5 on that item online.”

This is going too far – and on top of their choosing to have ambulances stand by instead of bringing their warehouses down to a safe working temperature and then making employees stand outside in 26 degree weather -  I am joining the calls to officially boycott Amazon.

I have previously written about Amazon’s heartless employee practices which intentionally endanger their employee’s lives.  Details on that are at the bottom of this post so that all Amazon related issues are in this one post for easier sharing.

I realize that many bloggers and affiliate marketers are in the middle
of their prime revenue generating period and now may be the worst possible
time to make changes, so I ask you to at least REMEMBER and
change who you’re promoting at your earliest convenience.

As you can tell by the tower ad in the center column of this blog, I have chosen to go with Bigger Books as an alternative to Amazon. Their affiliate program is on ShareASale.

The ShareASale Affiliate Network is where I always look first because they have been protecting merchants and affiliates alike from predatory affiliate practices. We need to encourage them to continue to make that their most important USP.  It IS the reason we use, recommend and promote ShareASale. Without a continued commitment to keep their network clean they will be just another network.

BOYCOTT AMAZON TAX NEXUS ISSUE:

There are numerous other calls to boycott Amazon including the lobbying organization Alliance for Main Street Fairness boycott Amazon call over the sales tax Nexus issue.

While obviously wishing to APPEAR TO BE a small business organization, that alliance was actually formed by large retail corporations such as AutoZone, Best Buy, Home Depot, Sears, Target, and Wal-Mart.

That alliance is a good example of why intelligent individuals MUST
learn to be VERY discerning in what information you believe.

The quality and quantity of disinformation
being generated every day is astounding.

BOYCOTT AMAZON CENSORSHIP ISSUE:

Image Credit SoYouThinkYouCanInvest ~ Click Image to Read their Boycott Amazon post

Amazon has periodically banned books that reveal truths that are not in line with what the global elite want us to believe. When they banned one such book, The Secret of Oz, some called for us to boycott Amazon for censorship.

Amazon lifted the ban of that book so there was no boycott. As I come across other incidents of censorship for political reasons I will add them here. If you know of any please leave details including links in the comments.

BOYCOTT AMAZON CHILD PROTECTION ISSUE:

Amazon is also being boycotted for selling books that are pro-child molestation. This issue makes it clear that the issue of free speech is not a simple one.

We can not protect ALL speech; however, as soon as we move
to limit SOME speech all Freedom of Speech is imperiled.

There are no easy answers when it comes to allowing free speech while at least keeping the most objectionable issues behind closed doors where only those who really want to see them can voluntarily go.

Laws of all kinds are used more to protect evil
than to protect us FROM evil.

Cetronia Ambulance Corps hired to stand by at Amazon warehouses

When you buy and recommend books this year I ask you to consider supporting small book sellers instead of automatically buying or acting as an affiliate for Amazon.

This is especially important in light of the extremely bad publicity Amazon is getting REPEATEDLY regarding their putting profits before lives.

Amazon endangers employee’s lives:

• Ambulances wait outside Amazon warehouse | Business – The News Tribune (Sep 25, 2011 … ALLENTOWN, Pa.)
• Inside Amazon‘s Very Hot Warehouse – NYTimes.com (Sep 19, 2011)
• Amazon has Ambulances Wait Outside Warehouse on Hot Days (Sep 20, 2011)
• Amazon Forced Employees To Work Brutal Hours In 100 Degree Warehouse Or Face Termination (Think Progress)
• Amazon workers’ nightmare shows what happens when jobs are scarce (LA Observed)
• When employees are disposable, high unemployment benefits the employers (UndertheMountainBunker)

Apparently learning nothing from the bad publicity over employees suffering from heat stroke, last month that same Amazon warehouse left their workers standing outside in sub-freezing temperatures because apparently identifying who pulled the fire alarm was more important than letting them die from exposure:

On Dec. 3, Cetronia Ambulance Corps transported six Amazon warehouse workers to the hospital to be treated for cold exposure following a fire alarm evacuation, said Larry Wiersch, CEO of the nonprofit ambulance service.

About 30 other people got into ambulances to warm up, he said.

“It was cold — 26 degrees — and it was windy,” Wiersch said.

“There were pregnant women, men and women in T-shirts and shorts, some with sleeveless shirts and shorts,” one complaint states.

“People were passing out and feeling ill left and right. … I am absolutely disgusted with this company’s practices and I do believe OSHA should visit this building and give them some sort of coaching on how to better handle the situation before there are more people suffering from hypothermia.”

These incidents make it painfully obvious that Amazon does not consider their employee’s lives when making business decisions. It is up to us to hold companies like this accountable for their actions.

You don’t have ambulances stand by – you FIX THE PROBLEM!

If we look the other way and continue to buy from Amazon and promote them as affiliates we are equally complicit and guilty of enabling them to intentionally endanger lives by negligent homicide or even criminal negligence.

The best way to get the attention of those who worship money
is this: Amazon Suffers Big Drop in Income

Keep giving them your money and you are guilty, too!

I encourage all people of conscience to switch to other affiliate programs and buy from other book sellers. There are many and I am personally supporting Bigger Books because they are on ShareASale and have every book I’ve searched for so far.

If you don’t care about the Amazon employees, at least care about you, your friends and your family because what we allow to happen to anyone CAN and DOES happen to us eventually. As Joan Baez sings, “There but for fortune, go YOU or I…”

Do you know of an Amazon issue not yet covered on this page?
Please do leave details and relevant links in the comments.

If you are a new commenter here or you provide multiple links in one comment, your comment WILL be automatically held for moderation, but I will approve all relevant comments.

Tagged as: amazon, boycott amazon, Ecommerce, small business