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  Anonymous Coward, 29 Dec 2010 @ 11:40pm

  
  

  There's also the point that their self-proclaimed biggest customer disapproved of another customer, and that other customer was sent packing.
  So, is it just the government that has Amazon at their beck and call, or could any sufficiently well-paying entity have a site kicked off of Amazon?
  
  Probably not. Personally, I think they're just worried about Lieberman & company going ballistic. But still, their PR department definitely fumbled this one.

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  Dean Procter, 30 Dec 2010 @ 12:08am

  
  

  Given that Amazon were selling the wikileaks cables in book and kindle form all the while it would certainly my increase my concerns.
  There is also the other thing for perhaps foreign companies to consider - using Amazon services is effectively subsidising the US government's use. Perhaps if you disagree with torture, renditions CIA sodomy then you'll decide to just keep your stuff in a European cloud.
  There are the other aspects of competition - Amazon is a store and various other things, perhaps if my product or service were to diminish Amazon's business then they could do a similar thing to my business and call upon a return of the favour they have just extended the US government in relation to wikileaks.ie use the US govt or courts to muscle me.
  Really doesn't sound like a sound business proposition to me, definately not the cloud to have your head in.
  Conversely it may be productive for US companies in on the game eh wink?

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  jakerome (profile), 30 Dec 2010 @ 1:01am

  
  

  I don't get it

  There's so much understanding around here that with user generated content & 3rd party providers, things are automated and content isn't screened before getting posted. Now one customer realizes that they can't handle their own hosting due to overwhelmed servers, and they sign up for AWS using the automated system. Nearly immediately, the account is terminated. Now, this wasn't some long-time customer that AWS turned its back on... nope, it was a brand new customer that only decided to purchase the service when their other options had failed. Of course, WL surely knew they'd get booted in short order, and using their PR savvy played it for all the sympathy they could get it.
  
  That WL managed to snow the "lamestream media" is understandable since they just don't understand user generated (or user uploaded) content. But Techdirt knows better. There's a certain willingness to ignore salient facts in the WL case in order to cast some service providers (AWS being the top target) as villains, when the very openness of these turnkey solutions is used in other cases to explain why 3rd party providers should have no liability.
  
  WL was never an AWS customer, in the sense that they never paid a bill. They wanted to buy AWS services, and AWS turned 'em done. That Sen. Lieberman was quick enough to make a politically advantageous yet effectively useless demand was luck on his part, as he now can falsely claim that he forced AWS to shut off WL. This is almost certainly a fraud, and I am honestly perplexed that Techdirt would perpetuate JL self-serving BS.

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    Anonymous Coward, 30 Dec 2010 @ 1:13am

    
    

    Re: I don't get it

    It is the same silly song they played with wikileaks.org domain. DNS is something that is easy to do, you don't need a third party provider to do it. Wikileaks didn't lose their domain, they could have easily moved to another DNS server in minutes.
    
    That the wikileaks.org domain now points through to a mirror site says it all. Once again, Julian manipulates the media for his own self-serving ends. After all, without great tales to tell, nobody will give you a 7 figure book deal.
    
    Considering he is in the "modern media" isn't it a little weird that he is doing a book for retail? Shouldn't he just be writing it in a blog or a PDF and releasing it? Oh wait, there isn't any money in that!

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      Anonymous Coward, 30 Dec 2010 @ 1:26am

      
      

      Re: Re: I don't get it

      I wonder if the book will get pirated.

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    Howard the Duck, 30 Dec 2010 @ 4:59am

    
    

    Re: I don't get it

    No one could have said it better.

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  haiku, 30 Dec 2010 @ 2:02am

  
  

  Unfortunately it's not only Amazon.
  
  Use of a 'cloud' service places your business at risk: if your service supplier is unhappy they can close down your business at short notice claiming a transgression of their terms of service and there is very little that you can do about it except spend a pile on lawyers ...

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    Hoeppner, 30 Dec 2010 @ 3:50am

    
    

    Re:

    I fail to see how this is true for any type of "tube service".
    
    Even if you go so far as being your own ISP provider, you still need to wheel and deal with other ISP providers to have access to anywhere outside your network.

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  Anonymous Coward, 30 Dec 2010 @ 7:30am

  
  

  I love the logic at work here.
  
  I know it's making me reconsider my own use of the platform for various projects.
  
  Think for a minute. When Amazon was hosting wikileaks and getting pressure from certain corners because of it, everyone was wrong. When they were considering not using Amazon as a result, they were all wrong, stupid, and pig headed.
  
  Now that Amazon mentions that the feds are their biggest client, you are considering not using Amazon as a result and you are right?
  
  I wish you would hold yourself of to the same high standards you try to hold others to. You expect Amazon to somehow change their policy on Wikileaks to get you as a client, but they should not change to reflect the desires of other clients?
  
  Arrogance in action!

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    abc gum, 30 Dec 2010 @ 9:54am

    
    

    Re:

    So, you are endorsing the use of amazon cloud then?

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      Anonymous Coward, 30 Dec 2010 @ 11:07am

      
      

      Re: Re:

      Cloud technology has it's uses, but it isn't all singing and all dancing. As for endorsing it, that would depend on what someone was looking to do. Amazon is incredibly powerful but not particularly fast, if I had to handle a million signups for something, it might be a good place to work from.
      
      The point more is that once again, TD wants to have the ability to pressure companies by withdrawing their business, while at the same time mocking anyone on the other side of an issue who does the same. It is incredibly two faced, don't you think?

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  RobShaver (profile), 31 Dec 2010 @ 12:02pm

  
  

  Denial of Service

  So when Amazon (and all the financial institutions) refusing to service Wikileaks, wouldn't you call that a "Denial of Service"? And, since it all came at about the same time could you call it an attack on Wikileaks? Further since it's many different companies, is it not distributed?
  
  Oh, but it's all okay because they claim "Terms of Service" violation.

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  Ian Pratt, 2 Jan 2011 @ 5:11am

  
  

  amazon

  I've already closed my account at Amazon.com. I do this in solidarity with those who have been victimized by Big Box stores (online or brick-and-mortar).

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