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boycott amazon?
by Alex Burns (alex@disinfo.com) - October 05, 2001

In the Digital Age, reputations can be changed in nanoseconds. Exhibit A is Amazon CEO Jeffrey P. Bezos, Time Magazine's 1999 Person of the Year. Within days of the announcement, the newly annointed king of free-market E-commerce was staring down a boycott.

Central to the boycott was the contentious patent (5,960,411) for Amazon's 1-Click shopping and affiliate programs. This technology was a 'core competency' of Amazon's enterprise structure and material success-oriented leadership. In a raw display of power, Amazon had filed a trade infringement lawsuit in October 1999 against competitor Barnes & Noble, resurrecting fears that Amazon would ultimately enjoy a Microsoft-style monopoly unless challenged for unfair competitive practices.

Open Source software proponent Richard Stallman objected to the 1-Click patent on philosophical grounds. Statements by early Amazon programmers hinted that Amazon had used public domain Open Source concepts (prominent within the community during the mid-1990s) for empire-building. An activist group called No Web Patents promoted online coalition-building to fight the patent grant, targetting Amazon-affiliated authors. The under-resourced and over-worked US Patents and Trademark Office faced a new crisis: its assessment procedures regarding online technologies were glaringly revealed as outdated. Different market conditions demanded new thinking and crisis responses.

The self-assured Bezos reacted to the revolt with a series of breath-taking out-flanking maneuvers. His ally publisher Tim O'Reilly released details of February 2000 dialogue that re-framed Bezos as an embattled icon seeking to improve the lives of the masses through applied science and technology. Was this an example of the Digerati conspiring to close ranks and protect one of their own?

Bezos argued that the patent grant forced competitors to seek out better solutions. He answered Open Source software critics by explaining that his coding team had developed the 1-Click system through tried-and-true experiences, not coercive and predatory appropriation.

Bezos also proved Machiavellian about shifting values-systems: he recommended the relativistic and consensus-driven Cluetrain Manifesto: The End Of Business As Usual (New York: Perseus Books, 2000) as a guide to the quantum shifts ahead. The mainstream media responded with high praise, marginalizing Stallman and other dissidents.

There are far wider implications to the attempted Amazon boycott. According to international strategist Edward Luttwak's provocative book Turbo-Capitalism: Winners & Losers In The Global Economy (New York: HarperCollins, 1999), the primary geoeconomic battleground in the 21st century will be regarding intellectual property (patents and copyrights). Just as declining nation-states face insurgent nationalism and micro-nations, looming patent wars and certain new technologies (DVD, MP3, Napster) challenge traditional business and legal conceptions of institutions. Historically, both conceptions had their genesis in the now discredited 18th century Enlightenment Project.

Laissez-faire micro-economic models exalt personal autonomy and independent companies over direct government intervention. However, the Amazon scenario highlights the need to empower the US Patents and Trademarks Office and similar entities who assess and scrutinize lucrative online technology. The Dot-com company obsessed press has proven increasingly ineffective as a de-facto industry watchdog, more vulnerable to PR-spin than the pursuit of truth.

Amazon's only conspiracy was that it desired more market-share. Drawing upon its collective brain syndicate, it was more attuned to what hyper-competitive niches required. Camouflaged by charismatic and intelligent leadership, it was perceived as benign in image-saturated landscapes pre-conditioned by elite shadowy cabals and zero-sum new world orders.

If consensus history is written by the victors, it's time Netizens demand a dramatic re-write.

Boycott Amazon?
This 'Time' magazine article (December 20th, 1999) links 'Open Source' software guru Richard Stallman to the 'Boycott Amazon' movement, and suggests that "Stallman's real beef is (or should be) with the U.S. Patent Office, not with Amazon.com. With Internet technology developing as quickly as it is, the Patent Office is processing thousands of Internet-related patent applications a year, and the task of distinguishing between the valid and invalid among them isn't an easy one."

Richard Stallman's Personal Home Page
Richard Stallman is one of the visionary leaders of the 'Open Source' software movement, and a prominent voice asking the digital generation to 'Boycott Amazon'.

Bezos: Patents Were Self-Defense
This 'Wired News' article (March 3rd, 2000) details Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' defensive replies to the 'Boycott Amazon' movement.

I Oppose Amazon.com's 1-Click Patent
Founding Amazon.com programmer Paul Barton-Davis writes about the '1-Click' patent issue: "When I agreed to join Amazon.com, I required several clauses in my contract detailing techniques that Amazon.com was prohibited from patenting or claiming as proprietary. These included the use of the `path info' component of a URL for state management, since at that time, cookies were not in wide use. I was almost certainly not the first person to have devised such a system, and in in truth, there was enough prior art that seeking such a clause was probably unnecessary. However, this was just one example of the way in which the company benefited enormously from the wealth of ideas circulating in the open and/or free software world of the middle 1990's." Is this an attempt by Amazon.com to rewrite the history books?

Boycott Amazon: GNU Project/FSF
This page features commentary by 'Open Source' software guru Richard Stallman and others on the 'Boycott Amazon' movement, including ongoing investigation of Amazon's other obnoxious court dealings.

Amazon, B&N's Mutual Hissy Fit
This 'Wired News' article (October 22nd, 1999) by Lindsay Arent details moves by Amazon to prevent the Barnes & Noble chain from using its patented '1-Click' technology. Bezos is quoted as saying: "We spent thousands of hours to develop our 1-Click process, and the reason we have a patent system in this country is to encourage people to take these kinds of risks and make these kinds of investments for customers." But where did you really get the idea from, Jeff? The 'Open Source' software movement!

The Amazon Of All Boycotts
This 'Wired News' article (December 18th, 1999) details early public statements by 'Open Source' software guru Richard Stallman, who was quickly labelled as Amazon's enemy by the press. The attempted marginalizing of Stallman's perspective is evident in this article.

Hack Averts Amazon Referrals
This 'Wired News' article (March 2nd, 2000) by Leander Kahney details the discovery by publisher Jorn Barger that a slight modification of the Amazon 'Affiliate Referral' program URL can re-direct the commissions to other sources, such as more progressive causes. What a brilliant idea!

Patently Absurd
This 'Wired News' article (March 3rd, 2000) by Chris Oakes examines the US 'Patent Office' (which is overloaded with work and under-resourced), and compares the Amazon '1-Click' patent battles to the 'Mutually Assured Destruction' strategies of superpowers during the Cold War.

Another Amazon Patent Furor
This 'Wired News' article (March 2nd, 2000) details the Internet community's reaction to the exchange between Amazon's Jeff Bezos and 'Open Source' software publisher Tim O'Reilly.

Amazon Calls For Patent Fix
This 'Wired News' article (March 9th, 2000) provides further coverage of the conversations between Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and 'Open Source' software publisher Tim O'Reilly, including some important background information on the e-commerce revolution.

Amazon Flames: ALL About Nada
This 'Wired News' article (March 17th, 2000) details the 'American Life League' pro-choice organization's misleading language regarding the Amazon 'Affiliate Referral' program, which led to a mini flame-war in cyberspace.

Tim & Jeff's Excellent Patent Show
This 'Salon' magazine article (March 10th, 2000) by Damien Cave suggests that the conversation between Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and 'Open Source' publisher Tim O'Reilly was a case of the e-commerce industry protecting its own.

Amazon To World: We Control How Many Times You Click!
This 'Salon' magazine article (December 21st, 1999) describes the early war of words between 'Open Source' software guru Richard Stallman and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Patently Bezos
This 'Salon' magazine article (March 16th, 2000) by Damien Cave examines the '1-Click' patent controversy from intellectual property perspecives, and suggests that technological patenting needs to be overhauled.

Patently Absurd
This 'Salon' magazine article (March 3rd, 2000) by Damien Cave suggests that Amazon's legal protection of its '1-Click' patent might spark further e-commerce innovation from competitors.

Battle Of The Amazons
This 'Salon' magazine article (October 28th, 1999) details the filing of a trademark infringement lawsuit by the Minneapolis-based 'Amazon Bookstore' (a for-profit collective feminist bookstore), and the embarrasing sexual orientation questions that Amazon's lawyers retaliated with. A true 'David versus Goliath' story!

Death Of A David.com
This 'Salon' magazine article (March 3rd, 2000) by Scott Rosenberg details the death of Lyle Bowlin's PositivelyYou.com bookstore, which 'New York Times' columnist Thomas Friedman had given free publicity to as an example of Amazon's competition. An example of why the 'I-Click' patent may lead to oligopolies, and how breathless columnists get caught in the web of their own weaving.

'It's Not Broken, But We're Fixing It'
This 'Salon' magazine article (March 30th, 2000) by Damien Cave outlines the new reforms by the US 'Patent and Trademark Office' relating to 'business method' patent applications, and claims it was not simply reacting to industry pressures in the wake of the Amazon '1-Click' patent controversy.

Amazon Sued Over Music Samples Patent
This 'Bloomberg News' article (April 12th, 2000) reveals that "Amazon.com, the world's largest Internet retailer, was accused by Intouch of infringing patented methods for consumers to preview prerecorded music samples over the Internet."

No Web Patents
'No Web' Patents' was formed by a group of former Amazon.com shareholders and customers who are angry at the filing of patents for '1-Click' shopping and affiliate programs (resulting in an unofficial e-commerce tax). This site explores alternatives to Amazon.com; covers patent information; press releases; news coverage, and more. Add you voice to the boycott today!

Time 1999 Person Of The Year: Jeffrey P. Bezos
As befits a new-era entrepreneur, at 35 you are the fourth youngest individual ever, preceded by 25-year-old Charles Lindbergh in 1927; Queen Elizabeth II, who made the list in 1952 at age 26; and Martin Luther King Jr., who was 34 when he was selected in 1963. A pioneer, royalty and a revolutionary -noble company for the man who is, unquestionably, king of cybercommerce. My, how reputations can change in the 'nanosecond' Digital Age! An example of the 'consensus historical record' - can we demand a more truthful rewrite?

US5960411: Method And System For Placing A Purchase Order Via A Communications Network
The controversial patent (5,960,411) at the center of the 'Boycott Amazon' cyclone.

Ask Tim: Software Patents Issue
Tim O'Reilly's 'Ask Tim' column (February 29th, 2000) details his philosophical position on the 'Boycott Amazon' movement, and replies to public statements by Richard Stallman.

My Conversation With Jeff Bezos
In this 'Ask Tim' column (March 2nd, 2000), Tim O'Reilly describes in detail his direct conversation with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos about the 'one click' patent and 'Boycott Amazon' movement.

An Open Letter From Jeff Bezos On The Subject Of Patents
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos outlines his views on the '1-Click' patent controversy and suggests some changes to the US patent system. Essential reading!

The Cluetrain Manifesto
The 'Cluetrain Manifesto' was recommended to netizens by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos as suitable background on the tectonic shifts underlying the '1-Click' patent controversy and e-commerce revolution. You can read the first chapter 'Internet Apocalypso' here.

Disinformation Dossier On Open Source Software: Free As In Speech, Not As In Beer
Check out Disinformation's dossier on Open Source Software: Free As In Speech, Not As In Beer.

How CRZY is AMZN?
This Esquire article (January 2001), by Ken Kurson, charts how Amazon's stock price captured the gaze of market analysts.

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