I recieved this on 7-12-98, after writing to Amozon.com re: their association with sexist/racist/homophobe Bob Enyart...... Dear Kelle: Greetings from Amazon.com, and thank you for your feedback regarding our association with Bob Enyart. Let me assure you that your note could not have fallen on a more sympathetic ear. Also, please allow me to share with you what I have found and what actions have been taken. I think you will be pleased. I, of course, immediately, visited www.enyart.com. I figured, "better informed than simply reactionary." After some searching I was eventually able to locate his link to our site. While the content of his site certainly is controversial, my initial reaction was "isn't everyone entitled to an opinion, no matter how uninformed." Nonetheless, the language on the site is disturbing, especially to those of us at whom it is directed (and especially in light of the recent Matthew Shephard tragedy). I do not for a minute deny the damage this type of thought can generate. Nor do I deny Amazon.com's responsibility to its employees and customers. What I found most ironic was the following quote: "Warning: The library can be hazardous to your child. [It] can be one of the most dangerous places for your child to visit this summer." We respect your decision to not support Mr. Enyart. And we hope you'll understand that our goal in working with an Associate is not to provide support to their point of view, but simply to provide interested readers with access to all the books in our catalog. While we understand that some people find portions of www.enyart.com objectionable, it is nonetheless a popular forum. I can also comment directly on titles to which Mr. Enyart provides links; titles including C. S. Lewis's "The Screwtape Letters." One of our goals as a retailer is to offer our customers access to every item in print, as well as to many out-of-print items. With 3 million books, videos, and CDs in our catalog, it is unfortunate but inevitable that a few titles may offend some of our customers. We hope you will understand that our goal of universal access makes it impossible for us to remove items from our catalog--including of course any items which we as individuals dislike. You will be glad to know that after investigating this matter further, we have discontinued our relationship with this site, and Bob Enyart is no longer a part of our Associates Program. It will take some time for this process to be completed. We thank you in advance for your patience. We have asked them to remove any links or reference to Amazon.com. Even though the links are still active on their site and you can click through to Amazon.com, this account has been closed and referral fees will not be earned from sales coming through these links. We appreciate your understanding and patience while we resolve this situation which is primarily outside of our control in that we cannot remove the banners, links and reference to Amazon.com ourselves. We must rely on the cooperation of the webmaster at the Bob Enyart Live website to do this. So far, we have not had the level of cooperation we had hoped for. It is our hope that you will support us in our decision to end this particular Associate relationship. We would also kindly ask that you will pass this information on to others you have emailed regarding this. Again, please know that we are no longer associated with this website in any manner other than that they have so far refused to cooperate with us in removing their links to us. Amazon.com's policy on racism, sexism, homophobia and censorship is very clear and we have taken action in accordance with this policy. I am very sorry that you were offended by this. We truly value your opinion and appreciate your business, as our quick actions should prove. Please let us know if we can answer any further questions. We'd be glad to hear from you. Best regards, Rob Allen Amazon.com Books, Music and More http://www.amazon.com/ >X-Mailer: Pegasus Mail for Windows (v2.42a) >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: I am boycotting your business until you cancel your affiliation >Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 12:38:07 +1100 >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > >TO: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >SUBJECT: I am boycotting your business until you cancel your affiliation >with Bob Enyart >ATTENTION: Jeffrey P. Bezos C.E.O > >I was a customer of yours but today I found out that www.enyart.com is an >affiliated web site. The content of that site promotes homophobia, racism >and sexism. Among other things Enyart advocates turning into capital >offenses both abortion services and providing contraceptives, the >immediate >execution of all convicted murders (including abortion providers), and >firing all government employees who aren't heterosexual. > >I intend to boycott your service until you remove your presence from the >Enyart site. > >As a Ph.D. student, I am part of the reading public and I buy a lot >of books. But not from you. Further, I plan contact every discussion >group, list and person I know. > >************************************************* >Kelle Castellano >Department of Anthropology and Sociology >Monash University, Wellington rd, >Clayton 3168, Melbourne, Australia. >Ph: 03)99052988, Departmental fax: 03)99052993 >email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Home: 95962390, Mob:0417198244 >************************************************* > ===================================================== Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List As vilified, slandered and attacked by One Nation mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
