AMZN's Ban on Some Explicit Materials from Kindle

[2old4yaoi]

So I imagine most have heard that Amazon has started to pull some explicit graphic novels materials from their Kindle inventory. To me it is strange that they think it is OK to sell the paper copies of these materials but not the digital format? I think this AMZN move defeats the purpose of e-reader in general - where the readers can get their reading materials in privacy, on demand anywhere, any time. It is kind of unfair for companies like DMP who has invested their resources to develop kindle version of their works as well when no clear guideline is given what sort of work is permissible on kindle now.

[Senyoru-Chan]

Maybe cause it's too easy to get. Easy for minors to get.

[TNT]

Is it just graphic novels? I wonder if it's because it's male/male? I've read some Kindle ebooks that were way past xxx.

[lore]

Senyoru-Chan, it's even easier for a minor to pick up a book from a store or home shelf, so I don't think that's really the issue for Amazon and the Kindle. There's a movement on to get Amazon to either explain itself or to stop pulling books at random.

This is probably the best post for reading about the issue and seeing the updates as they happened:
http://theyaoireview.com/2011/05/03/yao ... oi-titles/

If you'd like to take action, you can read about what you can do on this post:
http://theyaoireview.com/2011/05/04/cal ... ensorship/

Actually, the Yaoi Review's Twitter has been the clearing house for much discussion. If you want up-to-the-minute news, you should follow it in some way.
http://twitter.com/#!/theyaoireview

The most galling thing to me is how many more obviously pornographic photo books of women there are for the Kindle that remain up for sale while manga (i.e. drawn) books with actual plot are targeted for removal.

[Noon]

I thought it was weird that Episode 2 of Youka Nitta's Kiss Ariki has disappeared from the Kindle Store. I noticed this last month or so but I am glad I got it way before. It seems that Amazon have been working on this for a while now. I also noticed one or two chapters of Shiuko Kano's Play Boy Blues are not there anymore. Does this mean we won't be getting more chapters of Kiss Ariki as long as they are explicit?

[Senyoru-Chan]

Well this sucks. lol I'm not sure how to react. It's not a problem for me as I don't have such device. But this makes it even more difficult getting BL in English which is bad. I hope another website will sell them. And hopefully yaoi readers aren't the only ones in this situation. Cuz it would suck even more if it was only BL.

[Shroud]

People can complain to Amazon about here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/contact- ... =200127470

if ordering from teh .com and if ordering from .co.uk its here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/contact ... -help.html, select the contact Us button to the far right and choose
"Questions about KINDLE books, subscription, or other content" as your issue from the drop down menu. You can also complain by sending an email directly to kindle-feedback@amazon.com

People are Tweeting this as an #Amazonfail and they have already put a Yaoi Press title's offerings back up, so don't be shy to name titles when complaining. It's the only way to get them to re-amend this recent change of policy and get titles back on.

[lore]

I'm fairly sure, based on a tweet from Yaoi Press, that YP edited the chapters that were taken down to remove or alter explicit images illustrating the prose, which is why they are now available again.

I wouldn't attribute the YP chapters' presence on Amazon to Amazon until YP or someone who can compare the old chapters to the latest editions confirms what happened there.

In the meantime, I feel a bit worn out around the edges, trying to fight Amazon while dealing with the fact that DMP is segregating its BL sales exclusively to Yaoi Club. At this point, I'm wondering why I'm bothering. (see this forum topic for more info on Yaoi Club viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1622) Why am I asking Amazon to keep BL books on the Kindle and the site when DMP is banishing them to Yaoi Club? Mrrr.

[phoenix4045]

I hope I am not the only person who prays they do NOT make most of their titles exclusive to yaoi club...

I mean it is embarrassing enough that my family and amazon can gauge exactly how much of a perv I am
and I really don't want to be forced to add my father and sister's card to a second website. (I used to have a card but I overspent so my father took it away which as you can imagine is quite humbling as I turn 21 this year)

[lore]

Phoenix, if you want to air your thoughts and opinions on the Yaoi Club move, there's a discussion topic for it. If DMP is "listening" to the Yaoi Club issue, it is reading people's comments here: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1622

I didn't mean to get us off track with my comment, but I do think there's a parallel between these two issues that can be discussed further once we know more about the Yaoi Club move.

In the meantime, The Yaoi Review has put together a list of alternative places to buy or read BL, as well as a short list of E-Readers you might want to check out instead of the Kindle:
http://theyaoireview.com/2011/05/06/cal ... -for-yaoi/

Also, the original Call to Action post has comments from people quoting their replies from Amazon about this issue, and it's clear that Amazon is giving canned answers without really reading people's comments. http://theyaoireview.com/2011/05/04/cal ... ensorship/

I'm not sure what the next step is, but I'd love a large news source to publish a list ofDo just a few of the titles that Amazon has kept available while it pulls BL material. I'm monitoring 4 titles that I've reported for pornography, and, so far, they're all still available for sale. I'd link them, but the cover images alone are completely inappropriate for an all-ages forum!

Really, it's the double-standards that make me most upset.

love, lore