1) has patented an obvious idea 2) is suing companies that implement it.
(from http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/amazon.html, same in French at http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/amazon.fr.html same in Korean at http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/amazon.ko.html : ---------------------------- "Amazon has obtained a US patent (5,960,411) on an important and obvious idea for E-commerce: an idea sometimes known as one-click purchasing. The idea is that your command in a web browser to buy a certain item can carry along information about your identity. (It works by sending the server a "cookie", a kind of ID code that your browser received previously from the same server.)
Amazon has sued to block the use of this simple idea, showing that they truly intend to monopolize it. This is an attack against the World Wide Web and against E-commerce in general.
The idea patented here is just that a company can give you something which you can subsequently show them to identify yourself for credit. This is nothing new: a physical credit card does the same job, after all. But the US Patent Office issues patents on obvious and well-known ideas every day. Sometimes the result is a disaster. " .........)
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As a result, I decided not to buy anything anymore through amazon or any related affiliated program.
I might make my life a little harder as an internet book buyer, but I will certainly be more free. I expect this action to show you the real cost of the patent so as to make you re-evaluate your policy.
If common sense is not valued at Amazon, then hopefuly consumer pressure will make a difference.
My first action is to cancel the last order that has not been shipped yet totalling about $140. Then, as other people are doing right now, I will spread word of my individual action and try to convince friends not to use your 'services' anymore.
Jean Christophe Helary
(bcced to a long list of friends, email lists, and related people)