My Letter to Amazon

The news about Amazon de-ranking "adult" books, most dealing with gay and lesbian issues, has been gaining prominence on the Internet today (I read about it on Jezebel) I sent them an e-mail via customer service (who knows whether I'll ever get a response), and thought I'd share it here:

To Whom It May Concern: 

I was saddened and dismayed to learn today of Amazon stripping certain books of their Sales Rankings. The customer service response was apparently that this action was designed to serve the "entire customer base," but instead it privileges the desires of a segment of the customer base over others. Popularity in and of itself is not a value judgement - refusing to acknowledge popularity is. As a customer who has spent hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dollars at Amazon.com over the past few years, I am disappointed in such a prominent merchant willfully misleading its customers regarding its sales figures. As an academic, I am appalled by the fact that the chosen field of some scholars has been disregarded and devalued by Amazon. As a lover of reading, I was dismayed to learn that some of my favorite works have been stripped of their rankings, as well as the fact that some classic books, and potential classics-in-the-making, have been determined unworthy of ranking. What's more, I believe that those Amazon claims to help are those most susceptible to being harmed by this action. Many adults have, through time and experience, determined how they feel and think about issues of sexual orientation. It is young people who deserve to have the full range of educational and cultural materials available to them, presented with transparency, as they contend with their own respective thoughts and feelings. I plan to cease spending money at Amazon.com unless this issue is resolved.