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NEWS: Digital Manga's Kindle Publishing Reinstated




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mgosdin



Joined: 17 Jul 2011
Posts: 1302
Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA
PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 1:26 pm Reply with quote
Well well, that didn't last long.

I don't much care for yaoi, but I definitely do care if Amazon attempts to censor as a knee-jerk reaction.

Mark Gosdin
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Sewingrose



Joined: 11 Jan 2011
Posts: 579
PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 1:41 pm Reply with quote
That's definitely a good thing, and a plus for kindles when I get around to buying an e-reader. I want one where I can easily purchase all manga/comics that I am interested in, including BL.
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poonk



Joined: 05 Jun 2008
Posts: 1490
Location: In the Library with Philip
PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 1:48 pm Reply with quote
I really don't understand why digital readers have stricter guidelines regarding content. Is it somehow intrinsically easier for minors to get their hands on adult material for ereaders, as opposed to just the physical books themselves? Either format requires some form of payment so presumably cost/access to payment methods (i.e. Mommy or Daddy's credit card) isn't much of a factor.
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tuxedocat



Joined: 14 Dec 2009
Posts: 2183
PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 2:39 pm Reply with quote
poonk wrote:
I really don't understand why digital readers have stricter guidelines regarding content. Is it somehow intrinsically easier for minors to get their hands on adult material for ereaders, as opposed to just the physical books themselves? Either format requires some form of payment so presumably cost/access to payment methods (i.e. Mommy or Daddy's credit card) isn't much of a factor.


My guess is because digital content can be downloaded on the QT, where as physical media requires a physical delivery and packaging that can be possibly opened by anyone in the household.
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poonk



Joined: 05 Jun 2008
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Location: In the Library with Philip
PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 2:51 pm Reply with quote
tuxedocat wrote:
My guess is because digital content can be downloaded on the QT, where as physical media requires a physical delivery and packaging that can be possibly opened by anyone in the household.
I guess I understand that logic, although if a curious kid has access to the internet without supervision there's probably a lot worse stuff than BL manga they could be looking at for absolutely free. It's just one of those cases where I feel as a consumer my choices shouldn't be limited by other people's lack of supervision of their kids.
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Apollo-kun



Joined: 11 Feb 2010
Posts: 1213
Location: City 7, Macross 7
PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 2:51 pm Reply with quote
Hell hath no fury like a yaoi fangirl scorned.
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relentlessflame



Joined: 14 Dec 2004
Posts: 188
PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 3:00 pm Reply with quote
poonk wrote:
I really don't understand why digital readers have stricter guidelines regarding content. Is it somehow intrinsically easier for minors to get their hands on adult material for ereaders, as opposed to just the physical books themselves? Either format requires some form of payment so presumably cost/access to payment methods (i.e. Mommy or Daddy's credit card) isn't much of a factor.

My suspicion is that it has something to do with plausible deniability, and the real problem are the credit card processors who are under pressure from law enforcement. Once Amazon (like PayPal, etc.) is made aware of the issue with one or more of a publisher's titles, if they do nothing and continue to allow the content to remain, they could be seen as complicit, and that would put them in violation of their card-processing agreements (and possibly the target of legal action). With physical book stores, there are enough layers of abstraction that it's hard to get a book removed from stores everywhere (the head office can issue a decree, but ensuring it's enforced everywhere is hard to check), but with something like Amazon it's obvious that it's just a "flick of switch". So because it's so easy to have content removed and publishers suspended, they are under intense pressure to do so. This is also accentuated because the products are only a link away, so it's easy for certain activist groups to find works to complain about. There isn't enough legal precedence yet to give Amazon and others the backbone they would need to justify not removing "offensive works", even though it would be technically trivial to do so.

So, in other words, I think the digital world makes it much easier for people to exercise control that would be a lot harder to enforce in the "real world". If it were this easy to control physical books (to have questionable works removed or a publisher shut down without any sort of legal procedure or judicial oversight), I have little doubt that people would have been trying to do this all along.
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_V_



Joined: 13 Apr 2009
Posts: 619
PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 3:55 pm Reply with quote
I kind of wonder what specific title it was that made someone label them as "objectionable content" -- does Digital Manga itself know what title (or titles) was the source of this complaint?
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agila61



Joined: 22 Feb 2009
Posts: 3213
Location: NE Ohio
PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 4:12 pm Reply with quote
Lordy, this is kind of why I decided not to get a Kindle reader of any sort if there was any other viable alternative at all. Both Amazon and Apple have as much backbone in standing up to homophobic bigotry as an octopus.
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 7578
Location: Wales
PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 6:01 pm Reply with quote
"What we deem offensive is probably about what you would expect" - well that's as clear as mud...

This CBLDF badge seems somewhat appropriate:

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Nemo_N



Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Posts: 272
PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 6:10 pm Reply with quote
poonk wrote:
tuxedocat wrote:
My guess is because digital content can be downloaded on the QT, where as physical media requires a physical delivery and packaging that can be possibly opened by anyone in the household.
I guess I understand that logic, although if a curious kid has access to the internet without supervision there's probably a lot worse stuff than BL manga they could be looking at for absolutely free. It's just one of those cases where I feel as a consumer my choices shouldn't be limited by other people's lack of supervision of their kids.

It's all about theater; someone doing something pointless supposedly meant to stop "nasty stuff" from reaching kids brings peace of mind to a few simpletons. Whether such action is inane (like you say, there is worse stuff out there for free) or even an infringement on freedom is irrelevant to them.

If someone told them that dancing rumba on the middle of a street while wearing a mitre would prevent naughty drawings from reaching children they would do it, if only to show how committed they are to "protect children".
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configspace



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 3717
PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 6:14 pm Reply with quote
WRT legal action and mature content, well there would be no less legal risk electronically considering how their regular store has no restrictions. Besides, what about Android where this doesn't exist (publisher rate their own content; and the system allows side loading)? And as I've mentioned before, there can no be restrictions by law until obscenity can be legally proven. If states can't do it, it suffices to say it's hard for anyone to as well.

Remember, they've pulled written-word books out too. They want to market their Kindle as "family friendly", so this is simply kneejerk reaction to protecting themselves from the public, not the law.


Last edited by configspace on Fri Mar 16, 2012 6:18 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Nemo_N



Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Posts: 272
PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2012 6:16 pm Reply with quote
Shiroi Hane wrote:
"What we deem offensive is probably about what you would expect" - well that's as clear as mud...

Of course, point that out and you are immediately accused by moralist creeps who think you must be lying, since they strongly believe everyone knows what's objectively inappropriate art and what isn't.
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SnaphappyFMA



Joined: 14 Jan 2009
Posts: 216
Location: California
PostPosted: Sun Mar 18, 2012 3:22 am Reply with quote
OK, good... MY YAOI MANGA IS BACK.

Very Happy
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UtenaAnthy



Joined: 27 Oct 2006
Posts: 694
PostPosted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 3:22 pm Reply with quote
Nemo_N wrote:
Shiroi Hane wrote:
"What we deem offensive is probably about what you would expect" - well that's as clear as mud...

Of course, point that out and you are immediately accused by moralist creeps who think you must be lying, since they strongly believe everyone knows what's objectively inappropriate art and what isn't.


QFT. This idea is worryingly commonplace.
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