Putting yourself forward in public in a way that you feel will somehow protect you from everything you choose to say doesn't strike me as a fundamental freedom. It strikes me as an act of cowardice.
Yes. Exactly.
Also, if I'm not mistaken, Amazon isn't even actually *requiring* real names -- they're just making it an option for those who wish to have more credibility to use their credit card to certify their username is their real name.
There is an argument #5 to add for anonymity, which is that expressing an unpopular political opinion can frequently carry risks, and there's a proud tradition in US democracy of anonymity for such purposes (Alexander Hamilton's Federalist papers being the classic example). But again -- not so much for posting reviews on Amazon.
Though I'm actually surprised that Amazon does take down reviews at the request of the author. Do you know if they require some reason beyond the author disliking the comment? Does it have to be inappropriate or personal?
I will say that I for one frequently *do* use Amazon reviews to find books, though less so for fiction than for research. They're invaluable for figuring out which of say ten books on a subject is the one that people in the field actually like and use.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2004-10-24 10:20 pm (UTC)Yes. Exactly.
Also, if I'm not mistaken, Amazon isn't even actually *requiring* real names -- they're just making it an option for those who wish to have more credibility to use their credit card to certify their username is their real name.
There is an argument #5 to add for anonymity, which is that expressing an unpopular political opinion can frequently carry risks, and there's a proud tradition in US democracy of anonymity for such purposes (Alexander Hamilton's Federalist papers being the classic example). But again -- not so much for posting reviews on Amazon.
Though I'm actually surprised that Amazon does take down reviews at the request of the author. Do you know if they require some reason beyond the author disliking the comment? Does it have to be inappropriate or personal?
I will say that I for one frequently *do* use Amazon reviews to find books, though less so for fiction than for research. They're invaluable for figuring out which of say ten books on a subject is the one that people in the field actually like and use.