As Salvatore just posted a call for participation in the Yasmin discussion on
Nettime, perhaps I can post this recent nettime post on Yasmin? I do not mean
to intrude too much in this discussion, but I found what this message implies
a bit scary and would like to know your thoughts on how to process such an
example.
The text below describes a case study of how one of nettimes contributors has
attempted to upload a book on wikileaks on Amazon's print on demand. Why it is
being held back seems very fishy indeed.
I believe this post requires us to ask ourselves how next-step-publications
would deal with such issues of freedom of press and freedom of speech. On
nettime they are discussing the role of personal servers, meaning servers one
controls in a physical sense that would help insure the freedom of speech. Like
a "build and run your own server" 'Instructable'. This deals with networks and
structures behind next-step-publishing in relation to local and global
possibilities. But also Language and Code as image in relation to problematic
reproduction of that image.
I wonder, should he try to transform his pages to JPG? And would it help if he
contributed it as an artbook/project?
Jennifer
Full View
<nettime> Amazon and Wikileaks...
From:
To:
________________________________
When Amazon booted Wikileaks, I decided to do tinker with this problem.
Too many arguments about Wikileaks (and just about everything else)
hinged too heavily on metaphors and analogies, which tend to obscure
rather than articulate what's new about a situation -- kind of obvious,
if you think about it. After all, Amazon began as a bookseller and
remains an immense force in that field, which historically is deeply
intertwingled with "free speech." So, regardless of your preferred
metaphor for Wikileaks (journalism, publishing, treason, terrorism,
etc), Amazon's action conflicted with that tradition. A typical
conglomerate problem, right? A diversified 'portfolio' may be a smart
strategy for making money, but it's a shit strategy when it comes to the
particulars of any given activity -- boring stuff like craft, values,
tradition.
Naturally, Amazon runs a print-on-demand service, Createspace. So I
knocked together a book called _Cablegate: The Complete Wikileaks
Datadump_, Volume 1. Their "online tools" are what they are, and it went
well enough -- and quickly enough that I received five proof copies
notably ahead of schedule. I approved them and ordered ten copies, which
also arrived ahead of schedule.
The book consists of 200 pages of what might look like random noise to
some people, or maybe like a 3D barcode to others. The cover text on the
back (and therefore on Createspace's and Amazon's promo pages, where it
received several reviews) said this:
On Sunday 28th November 2010, Wikileaks began publishing
251,287 leaked United States embassy cables, the largest set
of confidential documents ever to be released into the
public domain. Volume 1 of Cablegate: The Complete Wikileaks
Datadump offers an abstract, high-level view of these
communications in 200 densely packed pages. Due to the
immense volume of material, it was necessary to rely on
extremely efficient encoding techniques, with a consequent
loss of resolution; as a result, we cannot guarantee that
all of the material is legible.
Soon after I got the production copies, the URL for this book circulated
on the "anonops" IRC channel. And very soon after that -- more than
hours, less than days -- Createspace "reached out" (bleh) to say
Our technical services department has recently confirmed
that the interior content uploaded to your title contains
blank black and white pages. They have set your title to
incomplete so that you can upload a file with content.
I went back and forth with them about this, of course. Their
explanations are painfully boring, but do pay close attention:
Version 2:
Upon reviewing your account, it was confirmed that the
content submitted for your title is entirely comprised of
black and white static. This content has caused pauses in
our production process as it's viewed as a printing error.
As this is halting production we are unable to continue
distributing this title at this time.
Version 3:
In the most recent print run of your title, production was
stopped on your book after a routine quality check indicated
that your interior files were printing incorrectly due to a
production error. We had to remove the availability of your
title as we are unable to continue fulfilling orders for
your title since it will continue to halt production.
Version 4:
You are welcome to fade the static images on each page and
indicate on each page that you are displaying encrypted text
and that it is a gag book. You may also upload a file with
text on most pages and the static image pages interspersed
throughout. However, please note that we will not allow more
than two consecutive pages of static images. Additionally,
you may add a disclaimer page at the beginning of the book
that this is a gag book. You may also consider adding
information in the description that this is a gag book as to
not foster customer confusion on Amazon.com.
Version 5:
There are two main concerns with the interior of Title ID
3522893. First and foremost, the interior file caused a
production error; this occurred was a result of the black
and white images, also defined as "static," on all the
interior pages. Furthermore, as there is not text in the
book file indicating the black and white images as
intentional, it was seen as a mistake in production. As a
result, all of production was stopped and in order to
prevent the same occurrence, it was necessary to remove the
availability of the title. Secondly, the current book
description does not detail that the book is a gag or the
reason for the illegible material on the interior.
Therefore, customers could purchase the title without being
made aware that it is a gag book. Overall, it must be
understood from the interior files that the full interior of
the black and white images is intentional. To do so, it is
necessary to indicate in text that you are displaying
encrypted text and to indicate in both the interior and book
description that it is a gag book.
(I'll leave the claims that it's "encrypted" *and* a "gag" for others to
sort out...)
Now, I'll be the first to admit that there's something very reasonable
about all of this. Their production lines have QA people who see a snow
crash and barf on it, which buggers things up, etc, etc. Except for one
thing: I don't feel like being 'reasonable.' This is a book, they're a
printer-publisher, and they've refused to print it based in large part
on the argument -- after much tooth-pulling -- that it might offend
someone. They can couch their argument in terms of production
efficiencies and consumer confusion (standard weapons in commercial
interests' war on culture), much as theocrats have suppressed books on
grounds of heresy, and as bluenoses have suppressed books on grounds of
obscenity, but the structural issue remains the same: one party wants to
print a book, other parties might not want it printed, and the
printer-publisher is the man in the middle.
Though I doubt very much that if I'd printed a _History of Televised
Static_, with details about where, when, and how each image was captured
and a scholarly introduction afterword, they would have empowered their
QA people to reject it.
But no matter: Volumes 2, 3, 4, etc are forthcoming, and I'll factor in
Createspace's issues into the encoding and design. This fight's been
going on for centuries now, and leaks aren't going away. I'm in no rush.
And, anyway, once I'd kicked the Amazon dinosaur its various extremities
started waking up. Amazon very graciously invited me to publish a Kindle
edition -- which of course would have the benefit that it doesn't need
to be printed and therefore doesn't face quite the same production
issues. So I used their online tools (same story) and was pleased to see
this message:
Converting book file to Kindle format...
\ | /
-- --
/ | \
This may take a few moments. If you have completed all
required fields above, click "Save and Continue" to move
forward while conversion continues.
I just logged in again to see their little wheel-of-industry widget
still spinning. It's been "converting" since Christmas eve.
URLs:
bit.ly/bookoleaks > createspace.com
"This title is currently on hold. This title is
still being prepared for sale and should be
ready soon."
amzn.to/bookileaks > amazon.com
"Out of Print--Limited Availability."
Cheers,
T
# distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission
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# collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
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Regards,
Jennifer
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