Vox Popoli: Amazon takes down Castalia House

You may have noticed that you can't find any Castalia House ebooks on Amazon right now. That's because Amazon shut down our KDP account on the basis of a wildly spurious claim of publishing material to which we do not have the necessary rights. We happen to have some VERY bad news for them on that subject....

The book in question? You guessed it. Corrosion: The Collapsing Empire again. This is the second attack on that book this month, as ten days ago, they pulled the book itself down for the sixth or seventh time due to claims that it was "misleading".

From: Amazon.com [kdp-quality-assurance@amazon.com]
Sent: 21 January 2019 21:59
Subject: Notification from Amazon KDP

While reviewing the following books we found the title, cover image, descriptions and/or authors of the following book(s) are misleading to our customers:

Title: Corrosion (The Corroding Empire Book 1)
ASIN: B06XFQ24QC

As a result, the book(s) have been removed from sale from Amazon.

Not only have they shut down the account, but they sent us an email today declaring that they will not pay us any of the unpaid royalties, thereby screwing over each and every author we publish.

As last communicated in the message on January 21, 2019, we have identified the submission of content for which you did not have the necessary rights. Due to this and previous violations, we are terminating your account and your Agreement effective immediately.

As part of the termination process, we will close your KDP account and remove the books you have uploaded through our channels from sale on Amazon. Note that you are no longer eligible to receive unpaid royalties for sales that occurred prior to this termination.

Additionally, as per our Terms and Conditions, you are not permitted to open any new KDP accounts.

Of course, there were no previous violations that internal SJWs did not invent as we've been repeatedly cleared of the "misleading" charge for that book. Needless to say, we will not be taking this latest SJW attack lying down. I won't be surprised if the account is rapidly restored once we contact the manager who has been repeatedly dealing with this issue, especially since we were promised that it would never happen again after the last time.

Of course, this is precisely why we established the Arkhaven and Catalia Direct stores, because we knew better than to trust Amazon's assurances that it would keep its SJWs under control. If you want to show support for Castalia and its authors, you can either write to Amazon and complain about this unwarranted action or pick up a print, ebook, or audiobook from one of our direct stores.

This is precisely why it is so important to a) build your own platforms and b) support the alternative platforms. This isn't just about Castalia House because the same thing can be done overnight to any author or independent publisher who utilizes KDP. And if you're a Castalia House author, please don't panic, rest assured we are already in the process of taking care of things. But if you want to send an email to Amazon protesting their unwarranted removal of your books, please feel free to do so.

UPDATE: Amazon can't even find the account information. It looks like whoever was responsible actually wiped all the data.

Labels: Castalia House, SJW

257 Comments:

CoolHand January 31, 2019 6:18 AM: Make the rubble bounce, sir.

After all, it is culturally appropriate for you to take scalps.
D E K January 31, 2019 6:19 AM: Hope this SJW cancer hasn't spread yet to the manager position. My blood boils when I read
"Note that you are no longer eligible to receive unpaid royalties for sales that occurred prior to this termination.Additionally, as per our Terms and Conditions"
Pathfinderlight January 31, 2019 6:27 AM: I wonder how many SJW jobs that book has cost so far.

What's interesting is that Amazon's top leadership is converged, but they care about money too much to allow SJW nonsense to interfere with the profit margin. Their entire business model is basically online Wallmart: diversify the sales, ride the profit margins as thin as possible, drive the competition out of business. You can't do that if you force an independent book seller to innovate.
Gregory the Tall January 31, 2019 6:30 AM: Dear Vox, I just checked Amazon.com and found "Soda Pop Soldier" and "The Irrational Atheist" and some others on Kindle. Many other books did not seem to have a Kindle version. Do not have time to check all of them. Have you got an explanation for this?
VD January 31, 2019 6:31 AM: We don't publish the Kindle versions of Soda Pop Soldier or TIA. Nick Cole publishes the former and Ben Bella Books the latter.
Gregory the Tall January 31, 2019 6:31 AM: "no longer eligible to receive unpaid royalties for sales that occurred prior to this termination"

Does not sound like a legal contract even if it is in the small print. Services were provided, services need to be paid.
Rickaby007 January 31, 2019 6:32 AM: Damn, sorry to hear that, Vox. I'll be praying that they reverse the decision. Best of luck.
Markku January 31, 2019 6:32 AM: The Irrational Atheist is not published by Castalia House. Nor is the Kindle version of Soda Pop Soldier. We only publish the hardcopy of the latter.
urthshu January 31, 2019 6:32 AM: We have more freedom on communist Chinese platforms than Western ones currently.
Gregory the Tall January 31, 2019 6:36 AM: "no longer eligible to receive unpaid royalties for sales that occurred prior to this termination"

Who will want to publish through Amazon any more if they behave this way? Have they maybe hired the girl that was fired by Indiegogo as she did not pass the Google's period of probation?
Gregory the Tall January 31, 2019 6:37 AM: Can ebooks be sold through Alibaba?
VD January 31, 2019 6:39 AM: Can ebooks be sold through Alibaba?

Why would we want to do that? We have our own platforms that we control now.
VD January 31, 2019 6:39 AM: Who will want to publish through Amazon any more if they behave this way?

Everyone. Because no one believes it will happen to them until it does.
Rickaby007 January 31, 2019 6:39 AM: >Can ebooks be sold through Alibaba?\
No point. The whole reason for selling on Amazon is because that's where everyone goes to look for and buy books. When is the last time anyone bought English lit on baba? I'll wait.
Gregory the Tall January 31, 2019 6:41 AM: Just checked amazon.de, .es, .co.uk, all ebooks gone, as well. So they have central mechanism to take everything down at the same time.
The Cooler January 31, 2019 6:48 AM: While reviewing the following books we found the title, cover image, descriptions and/or authors of the following book(s) are misleading to our customers

"misleading"

Infuriating vagaries.
Rocklea Marina January 31, 2019 6:50 AM: At least they compartmentalise. The blue haired bint appears unable to effect audio and print.
Gregory the Tall January 31, 2019 6:50 AM: When I click on the paperback version of Jordanetics on Amazon.de a text appears saying something like "link not functioning". Cannot click on it and get forwarded to the book description in Amazon.co.uk either. At Amazon.com it seems to work.
Gregory the Tall January 31, 2019 6:51 AM: Maybe this does not come from a single SJW, but from the "Peterson for Pope" mafia.
Rocklea Marina January 31, 2019 6:52 AM: amazon.com.au link for Jordanetics is functional.
Gregory the Tall January 31, 2019 6:53 AM: On amazon.es and amazon.fr
the Jordanetics paperback link seems to work
Gregory the Tall January 31, 2019 6:54 AM: The Jordanetics links are now working again. Strange.
Silly but True January 31, 2019 6:55 AM: “Banned seven times and back in print.”

“Amazon just can’t stop thinking about this book.”

“John Scalzi gives this book personal attention.”
FUBARwest January 31, 2019 6:59 AM: "I wonder how many SJW jobs that book has cost so far. "

None. It keeps happening, I'd put money on it being the same person thinking they can get away with it this time.
Markku January 31, 2019 7:01 AM: This is Kindle Direct Publishing we're dealing with. The hardcopies are a different corporate entity. They remain, at least for now.
Mr.MantraMan January 31, 2019 7:09 AM: Damn I was hoping that some Tumblrina of Snackcakes at Scamazon had wiped out my kindle library of books in the great purge, I wanted standing.
urthshu January 31, 2019 7:13 AM: And they would, too. If it weren't for you meddling kids.
Anonymous January 31, 2019 7:15 AM: Given the appetite for big government enthusiasts to bring the big corporations to heel, via massive fines for dubious crimes, you’d expect the corporates to be a little more careful around breach of contract, fraud, tortious interference, and antitrust issues.

The EU especially has a hardon for “proving” they’re not corporate cronies.
Rhys January 31, 2019 7:58 AM: Dear talented authors with anything resembling original thoughts,

Please stay the everloving fuck off and away from our platform forever

Love, Jeff Bezos
MisesMat January 31, 2019 8:00 AM: Wow....

I know is sounds odd, but last night I downloaded a my copy of this exact book! I I had it sitting in my Kindle unread for some months now. I noticed it had gone missing from the Kindle store. I doubt me downloading it was a factor, since it sounds like this book has been under attack for a while...still, that is an odd coincidence.
Shimshon January 31, 2019 8:05 AM: Shutting down an account is one thing. I don't understand how it is even legal to withhold funds for products paid for and delivered, regardless of the reason or any contract. Isn't that fraud or theft?
Michael January 31, 2019 8:15 AM: Forgive my laziness ... but where exactly in the Amazon behemoth would we send an email of protest against the removing of the books?
Tom January 31, 2019 8:18 AM: Michael wrote:Forgive my laziness ... but where exactly in the Amazon behemoth would we send an email of protest against the removing of the books?
jeff@amazon.com
James Dixon January 31, 2019 8:23 AM: > But if you want to send an email to Amazon protesting their unwarranted removal of your books, please feel free to do so.

>> ...but where exactly in the Amazon behemoth would we send an email of protest against the removing of the books?

Amazon doesn't make that easy to do. The contact us page doesn't allow for email contacts. Only chat and calling you back.

A quick search reveals two sites that say their customer service email is cis@amazon.com. I have no idea if it will work or not, but I'll give it a try.
VD January 31, 2019 8:27 AM: Send to: kdp-support@amazon.com and kdp-account-status@amazon.com
James Dixon January 31, 2019 8:28 AM: The other address listed as an Amazon email contact at two other places on the web is primary@amazon.com. Both are given at https://www.quora.com/What-is-Amazon-s-support-email-address.
James Dixon January 31, 2019 8:29 AM: > Send to: kdp-support@amazon.com and kdp-account-status@amazon.com

Thanks, Vox.
VD January 31, 2019 8:30 AM: I don't understand how it is even legal to withhold funds for products paid for and delivered, regardless of the reason or any contract. Isn't that fraud or theft?

It's not. But when no one fights back, they can get away with it.
swiftfoxmark2 January 31, 2019 8:33 AM: While reviewing the following books we found the title, cover image, descriptions and/or authors of the following book(s) are misleading to our customers

And yet, video stores never took down any of the Asylum videos when those mockbusters came out.
Cary January 31, 2019 8:43 AM: As of now they are still allowing downloads of previously purchased versions. I was able to still download The Corroding Empire on my phone. But this is a reminder to everyone to save personal copies of ebooks.

Thanks for the contact info.
Hit back hard.
Laramie Hirsch January 31, 2019 8:45 AM: Pisses me off. Will be following this development.

@29 "Dear talented authors with anything resembling original thoughts,

Please stay the everloving fuck off and away from our platform forever

Love, Jeff Bezos"

Exactly. Way to lose trust.
James Dixon January 31, 2019 8:53 AM: I've emailed the addresses Vox gave and the customer support emails and informed them I'm suspending all purchases from Amazon until the matter is resolved. I don't order all that much from them (my wife normally handles the Amazon orders while I take care of the Walmart ones), but maybe that will get their attention.
Difster January 31, 2019 9:04 AM: How is it they can withhold all royalties from all Kindle books over a claim on one book?
Halibetlector January 31, 2019 9:15 AM: Difster wrote:How is it they can withhold all royalties from all Kindle books over a claim on one book?
Who's going to stop them?
Sun Xhu January 31, 2019 9:15 AM: @43 Their claim is the false "multiple violations" trope, to try and make it appear that the entity, "Castalia House", is willfully violating their policies.
swiftfoxmark2 January 31, 2019 9:17 AM: Difster wrote:How is it they can withhold all royalties from all Kindle books over a claim on one book?

They can't morally or legally.

But they'll try because they have power and lack integrity.

My guess to is that the departments who manage the content at Amazon have a monetary incentive to pull books. After all, Amazon doesn't turn out a huge profit margin despite the wide range of goods and services they provide, so anyway to cut corners is probably encouraged.
FUBARwest January 31, 2019 9:17 AM: "It's not. But when no one fights back, they can get away with it."

Uh-Oh, can the Legal Legion of Evil handle two cases at once?
Daniele Grech Pereira January 31, 2019 9:19 AM: If you take a swing at the Dark Lord, you better not have a 115 IQ.
Zeke OF Confettii January 31, 2019 9:28 AM: I initially heard about this from Moira Greyland's Facebook page. The irony is interesting.
Grumpy Guy January 31, 2019 9:30 AM: You need to send a legal response. Then take the pot they piss in. Pain is the only language assholes understand.
JG January 31, 2019 9:36 AM: I cancelled my Kindle Unlimited membership today. While I may still buy eBooks that I can't get elsewhere from Amazon, they won't be getting a monthly tribute from me anymore.
VFM Bear January 31, 2019 9:43 AM: I'd support a Legal Legion of Evil fund.

Not just to do stuff like this, but also wreaking legalistic havoc on the actually evil legislations on abortion, 2nd amendment, etc. issues.

Just imagine an autual law firm called the Legal Legion of Evil appealing decisions to SCOTUS. Yes, I would pay money for that.
VFM Bear January 31, 2019 9:43 AM: actual law firm
swiftfoxmark2 January 31, 2019 9:44 AM: Zeke OF Confettii wrote:I initially heard about this from Moira Greyland's Facebook page. The irony is interesting.

I wonder if that book is real reason behind this latest attack. Greyland's book attacks the "LGBTQ" community head on in a big and very devastating way. The book is a pure rhetorical assault on them and SJWs can't handle something like that.
James Dixon January 31, 2019 9:46 AM: > I cancelled my Kindle Unlimited membership today.

Mine expired earlier this month. I didn't renew. Without the Castalia House books and comics, they don't have anything I want to read.
MegaBusterShepard January 31, 2019 9:47 AM: Is Somewhither in paper or hardback?
Mr.MantraMan January 31, 2019 9:51 AM: Sent an email asking if my archive will remain.
peacefulposter January 31, 2019 9:56 AM: Will the Castalia books that have been purchased from Amazon be removed from our Kindle app libraries?

Looks like mine are still there for now.
Warunicorn January 31, 2019 10:16 AM: Sent an angry email to KDP. I'm sick of this fascist sh*t from people who claim to hate fascism.
pdwalker January 31, 2019 10:19 AM: Reading this makes my blood boil. Any chance of making the rubble bounce on this one?
Laramie Hirsch January 31, 2019 10:20 AM: We need a bank.
Warunicorn January 31, 2019 10:22 AM: UPDATE: Amazon can't even find the account information. It looks like whoever was responsible actually wiped all the data.

Holy. Sh*t.
Tars Tarkas January 31, 2019 10:27 AM: I'm surprised that Amazon doesn't have a way of locking down a book so that only someone who is authorized can de-list a book. Given all of the controversial books Amazon carries, this has got to be a regular problem.

Presumably the SJW who took it down and shut down your account had to see the history and that Castalia doesn't have the bad record Xir is saying you have. Perhaps Xir already gave its 2 week notice?
justaguy January 31, 2019 10:27 AM: LEt us connect the dots. VD writes about KU and how it is not as beneficial for authors as it once was and starts minimizing his PH books on it. His PH loses all KU accounts?
JNorth January 31, 2019 10:33 AM: 58. Amazon has deleted books people have bought before, I download all mine to my computer and either change the format or burn them to CDs.
pyrrhus January 31, 2019 10:36 AM: I intend to call Amazon, and threaten to cancel my KU account and stop buying their books if this nonsense isn't corrected.
Markku January 31, 2019 10:43 AM: I'm surprised that Amazon doesn't have a way of locking down a book so that only someone who is authorized can de-list a book. Given all of the controversial books Amazon carries, this has got to be a regular problem.

No, they wiped out the entire account. There is no evidence that Castalia House has ever even existed.
Snidely Whiplash January 31, 2019 10:46 AM: swiftfoxmark2 wrote:I wonder if that book is real reason behind this latest attack. Greyland's book attacks the "LGBTQ" community head on in a big and very devastating way. The book is a pure rhetorical assault on them and SJWs can't handle something like that.
This was exactly my thought as well.
The Gays really really really really hate Moira's book, and by extension Moira herself. They'll do anything to bury it.
Balkan Yankee January 31, 2019 10:46 AM: Vox, you built your SJW-proof platforms just in the proverbial nick of time.

Talk about Antifragile!
Sun Xhu January 31, 2019 10:49 AM: There are backups, there are always backups. They just need to restore them.
peacefulposter January 31, 2019 10:54 AM: Thanks, JNorth.
Laramie Hirsch January 31, 2019 11:02 AM: So...is this truly a problem employee, and will Amazon fire them?
BassmanCO January 31, 2019 11:03 AM: Markku wrote:I'm surprised that Amazon doesn't have a way of locking down a book so that only someone who is authorized can de-list a book. Given all of the controversial books Amazon carries, this has got to be a regular problem.

No, they wiped out the entire account. There is no evidence that Castalia House has ever even existed.

Couldn't that somehow constitute tax fraud? I mean, don't they have to maintain those records (even if they aren't paying sales tax on them)?
JaimeInTexas January 31, 2019 11:03 AM: Just emailed to kdp-support@amazon.com; kdp-account-status@amazon.com; primary@amazon.com; jeff@amazon.com.
Salt January 31, 2019 11:05 AM: It looks like whoever was responsible actually wiped all the data.

That's not an act of Corporate. There's a poison pill running amok at Amazon.
Warunicorn January 31, 2019 11:06 AM: My Castalia House purchases are still there (under my Amazon account). I'm just pissed enough to say f*ck it, cancel my Amazon Prime membership and get that Kobo I've been eyeing.
Sambuca_Ford January 31, 2019 11:08 AM: Just received 4th Generation War by Lind and Thiele. First thing i ever purchased from Amazon. They emailed me a "you also might like" two hours ago lol. Take your business to Castalia.
Innamorato January 31, 2019 11:09 AM: Surprised Google still allows this blog
Silly but True January 31, 2019 11:10 AM: Is Finland’s hottest science-fiction author able to survive without this revenue, or has he found side gigs in genetics or applying his skills as a 6’-3” ex-Finnish marine in the interim?
Ariadne Umbrella January 31, 2019 11:12 AM: whoa. they really did disappear your books.
Markku January 31, 2019 11:12 AM: Well, I'm thankful that you guys have been using the Arkhaven store a lot. Not to brag too much, but it was made by yours truly. Now I'm glad I rushed the project.
JaimeInTexas January 31, 2019 11:12 AM: Got a response.

Hello from Amazon,

You've written to an address that does not accept incoming e-mails, but we have provided links to help answer some common questions.

Where's My Stuff/Order: http://www.amazon.com/help/wheres-my-stuff
Cancel Items or Orders: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?ie=UTF8&nodeId=201976060
Problem with an Order: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=201945500
Marketplace Order Problems: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?ie=UTF8&nodeId=201889250
Gift Certificates: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?ie=UTF8&nodeId=201937160
Returns & Refunds: http://www.amazon.com/returns

You can modify an order that has not shipped or update your address at any time by visiting Your Account: http://www.amazon.com/your-account.
You can find answers to other questions by searching http://www.amazon.com/help or reach out to us by clicking contact us at the bottom of any Help page.
Thank you for shopping at Amazon.com. We hope to see you again soon.

Sincerely,

Amazon.com Customer Service
http://www.amazon.com

(snip)
Xiety January 31, 2019 11:19 AM: Warunicorn wrote:My Castalia House purchases are still there (under my Amazon account).
Yeah, same here. Thumbnails, and dead links.
Xiety January 31, 2019 11:21 AM: Redirects, rather.
wahr01 January 31, 2019 11:22 AM: They wiped the account data.
Will you be re-establishing the account VD or taking legal action?
J. C. Salomon January 31, 2019 11:23 AM: “[Amazon] sent us an email today declaring that they will not pay us any of the unpaid royalties, thereby screwing over each and every author we publish.”

How’s that? Lost sales, sure; but surely Castalia House is on the hook for those royalties, even if they need to fight Amazon for the money.
Markku January 31, 2019 11:35 AM: The records of the sales are gone. Even Amazon can't see them. Royalties are based on a percentage of actual revenue to us.
wahr01 January 31, 2019 11:38 AM: @87

"The records of the sales are gone. Even Amazon can't see them. "

BS they are.

Petabyte-scale tech firms keep triplicate database backups on regular intervals for MONTHS.
Crew January 31, 2019 11:39 AM: The records of the sales are gone. Even Amazon can't see them. Royalties are based on a percentage of actual revenue to us.

Wait. And they don't have backups, not even in their much vaunted cloud?
FUBARwest January 31, 2019 11:39 AM: "The records of the sales are gone. Even Amazon can't see them. Royalties are based on a percentage of actual revenue to us."

I'm incredibly sorry to hear that. Let us know how we can help, if we can. I will and I'm sure many here on the blog will.
Markku January 31, 2019 11:40 AM: Yes, they will be on backups somewhere, but realistically that requires arbitration to be pretty far along in progress until they'll probably go THERE. It's going to require a specialist to find that data from the backups.
Crew January 31, 2019 11:42 AM: Can I smell a lawsuit brewing?
Crew January 31, 2019 11:43 AM: Also, Amazon does not want to get a reputation for losing valuable business data ...
Dave W. January 31, 2019 11:43 AM: There's no way they deleted ALL the backups. If management there is worth anything, some tech is working on restoring the data now. Some bluehaired, rainbow-underarmed soyeater thinks they were sneaky.
wahr01 January 31, 2019 11:45 AM: @91

Companies like this hide a lot of slop behind the scenes, but I don't see an operation like this failing to show up on a transaction history table and being restorable through simple operations without someone in middle-management or higher directing the erasure through the operations team itself.

I wish you all good hunting in finding all personnel responsible.
IAMSpartacus0000 January 31, 2019 11:46 AM: Seems audio books are all still there.
Shadowfax January 31, 2019 11:46 AM: JaimeInTexas @74 / @82

Thanks for the list - have copied and sent mail.

Received same response, but I hope at least one of them got through. Maybe three, since there was only one auto response?
Markku January 31, 2019 11:47 AM: The problem is that our mid-level contacts can't even make sure we have ever existed. There is no trace of us in the system. So, there is no obvious approach for them to take.
Markku January 31, 2019 11:48 AM: Audible is also a different branch. This happened inside Kindle Direct Publishing. A different entity from hardcopy books and audio books.
The Greay Man January 31, 2019 11:48 AM: @96 - IF you read the topic it said it is specifically the Kindle books account.
IAMSpartacus0000 January 31, 2019 11:49 AM: Amazon uses their own AWS dogfood. There is no way they can remove the account with out a papertrail on which user did it.
wahr01 January 31, 2019 11:50 AM: @98

This will be fun.
I suspect you'll uncover an upper-middle manager with fingers in both client services and devops behind this.
Dirk Manly January 31, 2019 11:50 AM: @OP

"While reviewing the following books we found the title, cover image, descriptions and/or authors of the following book(s) are misleading to our customers"

Translation: John Scalzi's fans looking for the non-parody product are too stupid to even know what author or book they are looking for.

"UPDATE: Amazon can't even find the account information. It looks like whoever was responsible actually wiped all the data."

They don't do nightly backups? Or is their management too unaware of typical data processing SOPs.

I hope you spin up a discovery, find out exactly who the SJW is, and name them personally as a defendant in the coming lawsuit.

@7

"Damn, sorry to hear that, Vox. I'll be praying that they reverse the decision. Best of luck."

Why not pray that they harden their hearts, and get the punitive financial ass-reaming by the courts which they deserve?

@43

"How is it they can withhold all royalties from all Kindle books over a claim on one book?"

By not paying for what they have taken/received. Same as any shoplifter or mafia truck hijacker.

@67

"No, they wiped out the entire account. There is no evidence that Castalia House has ever even existed."

Tell them to call I.T. and get that account restored from the backup tapes.
There ARE backup tapes, because such records are required by law. If they say they can't find them, then you've got an even bigger criminal complaint (destruction of evidence, conspiracy to destroy evidence, etc.)

@91

"Yes, they will be on backups somewhere, but realistically that requires arbitration to be pretty far along in progress until they'll probably go THERE. It's going to require a specialist to find that data from the backups."

That's not a technological problem. That's a matter of a manager refusing to say, "Get that account and ALL records restored IMMEDIATELY"

Also, all of the sales between the last backup and the time of removal should be in the transaction logs. Therefore, the database can be updated from the transaction logs (these are typically written to a magazine-fed tape drive, which automatically shifts from one tape to the next each time a tape gets filled). They should be able to restore the account to literally the moment the account was deleted.
Markku January 31, 2019 11:52 AM: Tell them to call I.T. and get that account restored from the backup tapes.

KDP is incredibly well protected inside the company. They won't even tell their last names. There is no way to get in contact with them, except by getting a high-level enough executive from ANOTHER branch to put pressure on them.
Markku January 31, 2019 11:53 AM: And here the problem is that the other branch can't even make sure we have ever been a customer.
wahr01 January 31, 2019 11:53 AM: @104

paging the Legal Legion of Evil
Shadowfax January 31, 2019 11:55 AM: Markku wrote:The problem is that our mid-level contacts can't even make sure we have ever existed. There is no trace of us in the system. So, there is no obvious approach for them to take.

Wouldn't former existence be proven through past purchases? Happy to provide order numbers if that is any help.
Markku January 31, 2019 11:58 AM: Imagine this from the perspective of a mid-level manager in another branch. This is a separate system, owned by a different branch, and you have some kind of a user view to it. You can search stuff, and that's it. And the search returns nothing. There's not much you can do even with order numbers. An engineer might, but then, that would have meant that you have already breached into the secret society of KDP and the question is moot.
wahr01 January 31, 2019 12:01 PM: @108

Speaking from the ground-level perspective in a similarly-sized org, I can tell you that situation is grounds for immediate upper-management escalation on stand-up calls to find an "owner" for a possibly-massive legal liability.
Dirk Manly January 31, 2019 12:01 PM: @98

"The problem is that our mid-level contacts can't even make sure we have ever existed. There is no trace of us in the system. So, there is no obvious approach for them to take."

I used to work at a financials company (stock brokerage house). The entire database should be backed up on a periodic basis == most likely nightly. The database is usually triple-mirrored. To do a backup, the database is shut down , one mirror is taken "offline" (i.e. no longer active), and the database put back online. The inactive mirror is now completely static, and if it takes 23 hours to do a daily backup, no problem.

So, there's a complete database backup from some time T on day D.

Now, specifically for just such an occurance (database administrator fat-fingers something), EVERY transaction of the database is put to a tape device for logging. (Tape is ideal for this sort of thing). To restore, all that needs to be done is to restore the last backup to an "offline" mirror. Bring the offline mirror online, but NOT synched with the other mirrors. Copy the Castalia House records from the restored mirror into the active database. Then run the transaction logs, filtering for ONLY those transactions which effect the Castalia House account.

Voila! Everything is restored...and as the transaction log is running, the account IS live, and can be conducting new business, too.

This is NOT nearly as much of a problem as what they are telling you it is. This means that in your phone calls, you need to request that the head of whatever department is responsible for that database, or the database admin and systems admin themselves responsible for that or those systems, need to be brought in on a conference call.

Anything less indicates deliberate malfeasance, and additional tortuous interference.
FUBARwest January 31, 2019 12:03 PM: Sounds like Corporate Cancer got another chapter. Not sure if I've heard of an SJW doing something opening up their employer to damages this large before.
David The Good January 31, 2019 12:03 PM: I wrote Amazon about my books disappearing and they replied:

"Thanks for your comments about Castalia House. We'll consider your input as we plan further improvements.

Feedback like yours helps us continue to improve our author and publisher experience. Thanks for taking the time to offer us your thoughts."

Well. Glad they're considering my input, then. I'd rather get my royalties, but it's a start.
IAMSpartacus0000 January 31, 2019 12:05 PM: I am still able to get my kindle versions that I purchased but I am seeing some strange behavior on the site. Kindle store will show some books like the Soda Pop Soldier series is still available on kindle but Somewhither is only showing on Audiobook even though I have it on kindle. Does show in my purchase but there is no current option to purchase.
Warunicorn January 31, 2019 12:05 PM: I got an email response saying that they can't help me because---quote---"The e-mail address you contacted us with is not associated with the Amazon.com account."

So I got that corrected.

You know, I keep saying to myself, Why do I keep giving money to a company whose employees apparently hate us, enough that they pull this sh*t? They're not the only player in town anymore when it comes to e-readers and marketplaces, that's for sure.
Markku January 31, 2019 12:05 PM: As said before, Soda Pop Soldier's Kindle version is not published by us. Only the hardcopy is.
wahr01 January 31, 2019 12:05 PM: @110

Not just that, but one of the more basic designs of the software used for account management like this is audit history and the archival of all changes to a "history" table within the existing DB even if the main entry is gone.

The idea all trace would vanish is absurd without major back-end hackery which would be a bright-line violation of enough laws and regulations to fill a small tome.
Difster January 31, 2019 12:06 PM: Picturing the damages being sued for. Lost revenue for writers, loss of reputation, breach of contract, etc.
James Dixon January 31, 2019 12:06 PM: The response I received:

"Hello,

Thank you for contacting us regarding Castalia House.

I was reading the message that your publisher received from our quality team and I understand that this is a really regrettable situation and I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

If by any chance the publisher wants to reach us in order to clarify this situation, we'd be more than glad to address this situation to the specific department. Since you as a reader and they as publishers are very important for Amazon.

Again, I apologize for this situation. If you or the publisher have any other feedback or concern, please do not hesitate to reach us out.

We'll consider your input as we plan further improvements.

Feedback like yours helps us continue to improve our publisher experience.

Thanks for taking the time to offer us your thoughts."
Markku January 31, 2019 12:08 PM: You're not seeing the picture here. The mid-level contacts cannot even be sure themselves that we have ever been an Amazon customer. It was 2017 that we had to deal with this the last time. They would have to have some way to describe the situation to the KDP management, and they can't even answer the basic question of what the account in question is. Because the account is no more.

We are dealing with this even at this very moment, but that is the Kafkaesque problem here. We can't actually talk to anyone who can even be sure we exist.
Markku January 31, 2019 12:10 PM: Not only have I reached them, I have given them three names (they only share the first letter of their surname, plus their full first name) of people who have previously cleared us from suspicions of misleading metadata, I have forwarded them their emails that prove this, and provided them the timestamps of said emails. The response so far has been: silence.
Dirk Manly January 31, 2019 12:12 PM: This comment has been removed by the author.
Markku January 31, 2019 12:12 PM: One of these is an actual manager, and another person refers to said manager by name, after which comes an email to me from that manager. All of the emails assure me that the situation is entirely dealt with, and the metadata is fine.
Dirk Manly January 31, 2019 12:13 PM: Castalia House... just sailing along, like a little old unescorted merchantman... along comes a sub which surfaces to take her out by gunfire. Lo and behold those aren't deckhouses, they're just knock-down blind hiding 5-inch, radar-directed guns.

Scratch one more enemy sub.

If you decide to start a holding company to own Castalia House and other separate corporations (for financial firewalls), may I suggest the name "Q-ship Enterprises"
Warunicorn January 31, 2019 12:13 PM: For anyone wondering about their Kindle content: If you're on Amazon's home page, click the hamburger (or "more") menu icon in the upper left (be sure you're signed in) > Kindle E-readers & Books > Manage Your Content and Devices all the way at the bottom.

Use the ellipses button for a desired title on the left. You should be able to perform actions like downloading a title for transfer to your Kindle, sending the title to your Kindle or even reading the book online through your browser.

I was able to do this for all my purchased Castalia House titles.
Difster January 31, 2019 12:15 PM: Markku wrote:Not only have I reached them, I have given them three names (they only share the first letter of their surname, plus their full first name) of people who have previously cleared us from suspicions of misleading metadata, I have forwarded them their emails that prove this, and provided them the timestamps of said emails. The response so far has been: silence.

This is getting more insane by the minute.
Markku January 31, 2019 12:15 PM: The timestamps of said emails are: 22 March 2017 17:04
22 March 2017 23:26
23 March 2017 16:10

In case you feel inspired to respond.
Joshua_D January 31, 2019 12:17 PM: Book Crime Will Not Be Tolerated In Oceania.
Christopher Chantrill January 31, 2019 12:19 PM: Have you tried emailing jeff@amazon.com? Obviously Jeff doesn't read it, but I'd say that corporate needs to know what is going down.
The Depolrable Podunk Ken Ramsey January 31, 2019 12:20 PM: I would contact law enforcement with this case. It very well may involve not only civil legal liabilities but also criminal prosecutions.
Salt January 31, 2019 12:21 PM: Markku, could there be anything in the ~Wayback Machine?
Phelps January 31, 2019 12:25 PM: I love the smell of a Demand Letter in the morning.
James Dixon January 31, 2019 12:25 PM: > It very well may involve not only civil legal liabilities but also criminal prosecutions.

Since whoever did this has deleted information required for tax accounting on Amazon's part, almost certainly.

> Not only have I reached them, I have given them three names (they only share the first letter of their surname, plus their full first name) of people who have previously cleared us from suspicions of misleading metadata, I have forwarded them their emails that prove this, and provided them the timestamps of said emails. The response so far has been: silence.

Either they're stonewalling or they're escalating up the chain to the appropriate supervisory level. I have no idea which.
Laramie Hirsch January 31, 2019 12:26 PM: Why stonewall?
Markku January 31, 2019 12:26 PM: Right now what I'm going to do is wait and see if someone responds to my email detailing both that we do own the copyright (confirmed by author himself), and that not even the claim of misleading metadata* is true. As confirmed by an actual Amazon manager in 2017, who personally assured us that this wouldn't happen again with this title.

*which you will note was NOT the reason given for the account termination, but their only communication on the mentioned date was about misleading metadata. Which makes the situation doubly Kafkaesque.
FUBARwest January 31, 2019 12:27 PM: @Markku Any idea why their response would be silence?
Markku January 31, 2019 12:28 PM: The external pressure you all are putting is very useful though. It will mean that my response won't be only seen by the SJW xyrself, and promptly swiped under the rug before anyone else knows about it.
Markku January 31, 2019 12:29 PM: The optimistic version is that because they exist in both coasts, West Coast is only just waking up. And they need to communicate with them before they respond. Especially if they understand the precariousness of their situation.
Snidely Whiplash January 31, 2019 12:29 PM: Dirk, you have no idea what you're talking about. There are no tapes.

The data is there. It is not on tape, it is not in backup. It is in the database and marked for later deletion.
The little bundle of sticks that did this is not an administrator or devops engineer, and will certainly not have the authority to compress and purge the database. It is virtually impossible to actually remove the data from an AWS database except when Amazon themselves do a maintenance cycle. Of course, it's possible that the hit was timed, either coincidentally or intentionally, just before such a maintenance window.
It will take administrator privileges to access or undelete the data. That administrator access will not exist outside the KDP group, and will be pretty limited within it.
And the transactional record of who actually executed the hit will be preserved forever.

Markku, escalate. Escalate hard and fast. Who ever you are talking to, get his boss. And go up the chain as had and fast and obnoxiously aggressive as you can until you get to someone in the KDP regime.

Dread Ilk, publicize this. As soon as it becomes a PR problem for Amazon, it will be resolved.
pdwalker January 31, 2019 12:30 PM: @135 FUBARwest:probably to get their story together first because they’re potentially in a world of legal shit.
James Dixon January 31, 2019 12:30 PM: > Why stonewall?

Because they're part of the problem and don't want it getting to upper management.
Cloudbuster January 31, 2019 12:32 PM: Bullshit. If they use their own infrastructure, they've got automatic backups going all the way back to before Bezos started taking steroids.
Astrosmith January 31, 2019 12:33 PM: I still have my copy of "John Scalzi is a Rapist" on my Kindle, so there is that.
Markku January 31, 2019 12:35 PM: Yes, as I said, I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that an engineer wouldn't be able to return the data. But as I pointed out, for that to even be an option, we'd be talking directly to KDP and Amazon is very well designed to prevent that.
Snidely Whiplash January 31, 2019 12:36 PM: Anybody here know Glen Reynolds? Any other megaphones?
Salt January 31, 2019 12:37 PM: Amazon is very well designed to prevent that

Call Saul.
James Dixon January 31, 2019 12:38 PM: > Dread Ilk, publicize this.

Thread link and description of posted to gab.
FUBARwest January 31, 2019 12:40 PM: @139 doesnt that make it worse? Instead of an isolated rogue employee it's now the company being complicit.

Hopefully the optimistic version of things includes the West Coast part of the company has access to a backup system the East coast doesn't.

Will CH's documents regarding any transactions with KDP/Amazon be accepted in the legal sense if Amazon doesn't have the information on their end?
Laramie Hirsch January 31, 2019 12:40 PM: Who did it? That's what I wanna know. Was it an Antifa operation? Or an individual?
James Dixon January 31, 2019 12:41 PM: > Anybody here know Glen Reynolds? Any other megaphones?

Glenn's email is pundit at instapundit dot com
wahr01 January 31, 2019 12:42 PM: @147

More likely a manager with fingers in the right pies if they managed to get ALL references to the account purged from the user-facing side of their accounting system.

Everyone above them now being engaged only care about making the headache end. It's up to Markku and the Castalia team to make sure that headache does not end until the parties responsible are identified.
Gregory the Tall January 31, 2019 12:44 PM: Does this also mean that your Kindle unlimited prison abruptly ended today?
VD January 31, 2019 12:45 PM: Who did it? That's what I wanna know. Was it an Antifa operation? Or an individual?

The first SJW is an individual in Quality Assurance. There may be a second one with access to Kindle Accounts.
VD January 31, 2019 12:45 PM: Does this also mean that your Kindle unlimited prison abruptly ended today?

Go buy an audiobook of Wardogs and see....
Markku January 31, 2019 12:47 PM: Personally I'd prefer Alex Jones, if we're talking megaphones.
Wolfman January 31, 2019 12:47 PM: Skiltron --- Bagpipes of War

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JecGv9pp7as
James Dixon January 31, 2019 12:49 PM: > Personally I'd prefer Alex Jones, if we're talking megaphones.

Well, I'm sure Vox knows how to contact him. :)
Gregory the Tall January 31, 2019 12:50 PM: VD wrote:Does this also mean that your Kindle unlimited prison abruptly ended today?

Go buy an audiobook of Wardogs and see....
I already did (just started listening for 5 minutes today), what I meant was: As of yesterday's status could you now buy any Castalia ebook individually without the audio because there is no Kindle contract any more?
VD January 31, 2019 12:53 PM: As of yesterday's status could you now buy any Castalia ebook individually without the audio because there is no Kindle contract any more?

Yes, once we get the books up there. So far, I've added the three Wardogs ebooks and the Jordanetics ebook to the audiobook packages. I'll get the books listed separately later today.
Gregory the Tall January 31, 2019 1:01 PM: Time to start deforesting Amazon as quickly as the loggers do it in South America.
JaimeInTexas January 31, 2019 1:02 PM: Accounting systems (that are worth anything and are legit) will have an audit trail table, recording deletions and edits to open/completed purchase orders.
If Amazon is incorporated in the State Of Washington, I am sure that their Secretary Of State might be interested in this "misshap" of accounting records that have tax consequences.
JaimeInTexas January 31, 2019 1:04 PM: Markku I gladly email you any purchase information from my Amazon account dealing with Castalia House published books.
JonM January 31, 2019 1:05 PM: It's hard to think of a more pathetic hill to die on than the one defending "The Collapsing Empire".

Email sent to Amazon as an author expressing concerns. Not much, but one more complaint to add to the pile.

Markku: Thanks for the frequent updates.
Doktor Jeep January 31, 2019 1:07 PM: Now you see, all that stuff about guys in trench coats knocking on doors and asking qvestions, that Nazi Germany trope, was in reality the Germans trying to be precise, as they tend to be, and find out exactly who and what.
Imagine if God gave be a black box with a big red button on it and said "Ok Dok, press that button and Amazon and everybody in their employ simply winks out of existence".
But do you really want to get back at the people who slave away in the warehouse? How about the people maintaining the servers. Are they culprits?
So the Gestapo knocking on doors looking for communists trope actually makes a case for the Germans: rather than burn the whole town to the ground, just find out exactly who the bad guys are and arrest them.
So it is with these SJWs. I look forward to a day when they will be sought out for indictments. The innocent should not fear. That's the way a system of justice is supposed to work.

And if that cannot happen under the present system we have now, then it will happen under the system that replaces it, and with a long list of grievances being what brings that system into existence, that system is not going to be dragging its feet on the matter. Doors will be knocked on, emails will be reviewed, people will be interrogated, and given the precedent of law set by how the FBI is treating Trump's people, the old phrase "vee haf vays of making you talk!" is not going to imply physical torture of any sort, but those who don't talk would prefer a beating compared to what's coming to them.
JaimeInTexas January 31, 2019 1:11 PM: How can we let Drudge Report know about this?
Anonymous January 31, 2019 1:13 PM: How can we let Drudge Report know about this?

Bottom of the Drudge Report has a link: drudge@drudgereport.com
JaimeInTexas January 31, 2019 1:16 PM: Weeeeeell. Druge has a "SEND NEWS TIPS TO DRUDGE"

I did.
JaimeInTexas January 31, 2019 1:21 PM: @165
Thanks.

On the audit trail records. Records could have been deleted by someone with the requisite permission to the database. Still, there will be a database log with the transaction(s).
aleph_0 January 31, 2019 1:29 PM: Good excuse to pick up Superluminary by John C. Wright from Castalia House Direct.
Gregory the Tall January 31, 2019 1:29 PM: Castalia House should immediately ask all of Amazon's branches from Australia to the USA for account statements until the 31st of January in all of the different currencies. By registered mail. All of the authors could do this as well.
Markku January 31, 2019 1:34 PM: The response James Dixon received is truly offensive. In their first email on 21st, they didn't ask us anything, nor did they provide any way to complain. They simply informed that this is what they have done. Then, on the very same day that they informed that they have terminated the account, and STILL didn't ask us anything or offer any approach to setting it up again, I emailed them all the evidence that they didn't ask. It makes a conclusive case, and has all the necessary names and times in it.

So, then they go and tell our customers that this is just because we haven't gotten in touch with them. All our fault, see.
Markku January 31, 2019 1:37 PM: I'm refreshing the mailbox as we speak. Nothing.
doctrev January 31, 2019 1:39 PM: I didn't want to comment, because I figured this would be resolved before the afternoon, but this is now absolutely insane. I don't think a crisis team would be sufficient to deal with ambitious lawyers in the DOJ ready to tear a strip or ten off Amazon using actual criminal charges.

One hell of an opportunity.
Gregory the Tall January 31, 2019 1:43 PM: Time to build or use an affiliation service for Castalia House maybe, so that any of your friends would be incentivised to mention your books.
FUBARwest January 31, 2019 1:44 PM: If SJWs could think ahead they wouldn't be SJWs. That being said, this is an incredibly shortsighted, damaging move.

From their perspective: "Literally Hitler" is in charge and has publicly threatened to go after the big tech companies and mentioned the company I work for by name. I know what I'll do! I'll delete important legal information that makes my company liable for huge damages and gives Orange Hitler and his minions a legit reason to attack my company! All for a book that I got caught trying to do this too before. Brilliant!
Nate73 January 31, 2019 1:45 PM: I see Throne of Bones and SJWs Always Lie are still there, does that mean they are published through something other than Castalia House?
Dirk Manly January 31, 2019 1:46 PM: @138

"The data is there. It is not on tape, it is not in backup. It is in the database and marked for later deletion.
The little bundle of sticks that did this is not an administrator or devops engineer, and will certainly not have the authority to compress and purge the database. It is virtually impossible to actually remove the data from an AWS database except when Amazon themselves do a maintenance cycle. Of course, it's possible that the hit was timed, either coincidentally or intentionally, just before such a maintenance window.
It will take administrator privileges to access or undelete the data. That administrator access will not exist outside the KDP group, and will be pretty limited within it.
And the transactional record of who actually executed the hit will be preserved forever."

1 "Marked for deletion"... and if the process which goes around deleting things which are "marked for deletion" runs at night...(which would be last night), then they are DELETED. IDIOT.

You're obviously not a systems engineer, which requires keeping both the big picture AND ALL OF THE DAMNED NITTY-GRITTY DETAILS in your head, all at the same time. Your explanation looks at one tiny slice of the picture, not the whole picture. Data processing doesn't exist as an end unto itself. It's there to serve the business. And by law, corporations HAVE to retain records -- for 7 at a minimum, and in some places, a 10 year minimum. That means backups, not mirrors, and not archival filesystems, and not even archival tape filesystems. Neither an NAS nor a SAN will fill the legal requirements, either. Because they are too easily modified (i.e. tampered with) in the event of a legal investigation.

Also, even SANs and NASs need to be onsite with the rest of the datacenter (because of bandwidth issues), which means you have NO DISASTER RECOVERY if you are relying only on SAN and/or NAS technology. Tapes can be taken offsite, and put into a vault for long-term storage.

EVERY serious organization makes backup tapes, because they are compact, and cheap (and yes, tape drives HAVE increased in bandwidth and capacity, just like every other magnetic storage technology), and it's extremely easy to keep them in an offsite location. Plus, when you have large amounts of data, it's all but MANDATORY just to be in compliance with the law, as keeping paper records (the alternative) is ridiculously expensive in comparison.

No, your live database will NOT cut it for legal compliance, because that's the state the database is in RIGHT NOW, not on or about the time that's the subject of some legal proceeding of another.

You really have no idea what you're talking about.
Markku January 31, 2019 1:46 PM: For the thousandth time, only Kindle Direct Publishing is affected. Not any hardcopies, at least yet.
James Dixon January 31, 2019 1:47 PM: > The response James Dixon received is truly offensive.

I figured you were in touch with them, Markku. I also figured you would want to know what they were telling me. The contact on the email was Taty S., in case you can use that information.

I gave them an update on the status and told them I was awaiting further news with interest.
Salt January 31, 2019 1:48 PM: @175. Those are paperbacks. It helps to read the whole thread.
IAMSpartacus0000 January 31, 2019 1:48 PM: Markku wrote:The problem is that our mid-level contacts can't even make sure we have ever existed. There is no trace of us in the system. So, there is no obvious approach for them to take.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010XWRSVS/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

That is the link from my Library to the book. I can still download Somewhither from my library but I cannot direct anyone to it. The Audible book is still available.

So if they want some of the content the copies are in my Kindle library for many of the books. That said this means they are not totally removed from the system.

As an aside I just got off support chat with Amazon and they are giving me $10 bucks because of the inconvenience.

I had removed one of the books from me reader in the Household account and couldn't find it again after looking it up. You have to go to the website and look at your Kindle library and then reshare it in some cases.

For those interested in getting to the chat.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/contact-us?initialIssue=asin-order

Set
Kindle Ebook
Problem with Kindle book/e-Content
Problem downloading a kindle book

It will present an option for Phone or Chat
FUBARwest January 31, 2019 1:53 PM: Does/Is CH have/developing an app? Is that not cost effective at the moment?
Cetera January 31, 2019 1:54 PM: I'm currently on hold with Amazon customer service. I've been transferred around and around and ended up at KDP, but as I don't have an account with KDP they won't talk to me. The lady at KDP is trying to round up a supervisor on the Amazon Customer Service side for me to bitch to. We'll see how it goes.
steb January 31, 2019 1:54 PM: $50 says the original blue-hair went down to the IT department and got xirself a boyfriend.

$20 says he spent months implementing a technically flawless method to delete the account everywhere short of the snapshots, all without leaving a trace.

And my last $10 says that his whole team will know it was him the moment they hear what happened.

In any case, Amazon's legal team are probably waterboarding middle-management as we speak. There's no way they'd have a policy of deleting information in situations like this.
idprism January 31, 2019 1:56 PM: Now we see if amazon's action on RTO/RPO stand up to their cloud service claims.
Markku January 31, 2019 1:56 PM: I'm almost certain the information exists somewhere, and they know where it exists. Because they have collected money from customers. That is taxable. See where this is going?
OneWingedShark January 31, 2019 1:56 PM: Mr.MantraMan wrote:Damn I was hoping that some Tumblrina of Snackcakes at Scamazon had wiped out my kindle library of books in the great purge, I wanted standing.
Don't you love how the courts made up 'standing' in order to screw the complainant, injured party, and/or prosecution?

Resident Moron™ wrote:Given the appetite for big government enthusiasts to bring the big corporations to heel, via massive fines for dubious crimes, you’d expect the corporates to be a little more careful around breach of contract, fraud, tortious interference, and antitrust issues.

The EU especially has a hardon for “proving” they’re not corporate cronies.
Given the sweetheart discount-deals Amazon gets from shipping (even USPS, IIRC) I suspect there's a lot deeper corruption and cronyism going on WRT Amazon than all but the most cynical "conspiracy theorist" would posit.

Sun Xhu wrote:@43 Their claim is the false "multiple violations" trope, to try and make it appear that the entity, "Castalia House", is willfully violating their policies.
Which, if you've been screwed over/railroaded you know can be pure BS. I know of one instance where a guy in the army said something that was a bit insubordinate, got counseled by 5 different NCOs and Officers over the same incident, then the counseling statements were used as documentation of a "history of insubordination" for an Article 15.

wahr01 wrote:@108
Speaking from the ground-level perspective in a similarly-sized org, I can tell you that situation is grounds for immediate upper-management escalation on stand-up calls to find an "owner" for a possibly-massive legal liability.
Yep -- Something of this order could have massive repercussions.

Laramie Hirsch wrote:Why stonewall?
Because of the above; the whole company could be on the hook for a lot. (Especially if there are mandatory tax-records in the disappeared data.) This is the sort of thing that would get someone fired and sued by a company, and it's likely more than one person, which means conspiracy can be added into the mix.
SDaly January 31, 2019 2:01 PM: Markku -

I know you are busy, but I think you have lawyers, and at a minimum, I would have a lawyer draft a letter to Kindle/Amazon telling them that you anticipate that litigation might arise out of this and put them on official notice that they have to preserve every document / email / electronic back up related to Castalia House.
Snidely Whiplash January 31, 2019 2:01 PM: @MArkku,
i've written to the kdp-support address and let them know that I'm cancelling Amazon Prime and deleting my account if they haven't resolved the issue by Monday. I also called them out for stealing from their authors and publishers.

@Dirk
I've been a system engineer for more than 35 years, at some of the largest corporations in the world. I'm currently working full-time on AWS.
Bite me, you self-important punk.
JaimeInTexas January 31, 2019 2:04 PM: I have been keeping all my order confirmations for about 2 years.
I found my order confirmation email for "The Corroding Empire Book 1.

markku, if it is of any help I can send you my order confirmation order.
Markku January 31, 2019 2:07 PM: As far as arbitration goes, the time to start working those details is when we know what their immediate plan of action is. First I want to know if they will make this right, or if they will stand behind the decision as a corporation. We have our lawyers at hand already. There is no reason to get jittery yet. Information must come first.
Markku January 31, 2019 2:08 PM: In case Dirk Manly doesn't believe Snidely Whiplash, I should inform him that I personally know him, by name, and he is who he says he is.
SDaly January 31, 2019 2:13 PM: From a legal perspective, deleting the data is very, very, very bad for Amazon, and as soon as its internal legal department hears of it - if they haven't already, the shit will hit the fan. I don't see how the company can stand behind the decision with the deliberate attempted destruction of data. I suspect it will back down, and you should have some leverage in demanding protection going forward.
D.J. Schreffler January 31, 2019 2:14 PM: @Markku @VD

What can we do at this time to help?
Markku January 31, 2019 2:16 PM: As far as the next few hours go, I'd be inclined to just wait and see if there is a response to my email documentation.
SDaly January 31, 2019 2:17 PM: Also, arbitration contracts often allow you to go to court to seek immediate injunctive relief if you are faced with imminent, irreparable harm that cannot wait until an arbitration, and states allow such injunctive relief even without such a specific reference in the contract.
Cetera January 31, 2019 2:17 PM: After being transferred to a supervisor with Amazon Customer Support from KDP, I explained the situation. The supervisor tried to fob me off with a $30 credit to my Amazon account and suggested I mail them a letter. I told her I wasn't mailing her anything, explained the situation to her, said that if it isn't resolved I'm cancelling Prime and stopping ALL purchases through Amazon, and kindly suggested she really needs to escalate this issue up through her management chain.

She balked at escalating through her chain (pretty sure she was in India) but I patiently walked her through the magnitude of the issue and said this is one of those times you really need to be alerting someone higher-up in the org that this is a big deal and someone needs to look into it.

She was quiet for a good long while, and said she would, and that someone may contact me back within 24 hours. We'll see. I'm not optimistic, but I've tried to get pressure put on them through the other wing of the company.
OvergrownHobbit January 31, 2019 2:19 PM: "...support for Castalia and its authors, you can either write to Amazon and complain about this unwarranted action or pick up a print, ebook, or audiobook from one of our direct stores."

Embrace the healing power of "and"
Difster January 31, 2019 2:22 PM: I'm in a chat with Kindle support right now, asking them how I can be sure that CH books wont' be removed from my devices. I'll send Markku the transcript when I'm done.
Snidely Whiplash January 31, 2019 2:22 PM: Markku wrote:Information must come first.
The problem here is that Amazon is withholding the information. That puts them in the driver's seat.
The way to get this resolved is not working through the middle management. I've been a middle manager. It's to put enough pressure on them to make it a problem they have to kick up the management chain.
JaimeInTexas January 31, 2019 2:23 PM: I have received an email with the "Amazon does not have control over the ebook availability" line.
I replied to that email and they sent another email.
All emails want for me to call and chat:
"Contacting us through the website allows you to verify security before a call is placed and ensures we have your account information ready when we call you."

In another day, if the situtatin warrants it, the next email will recap the situation, the potential tax fraud involved, and Washington's Secretary Of State will be in the list of recipients.

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Thursday, January 31, 2019

Amazon takes down Castalia House

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