Amazon's Angela Johnson Wins Wicked Witch Award

Amazon's Angela Johnson is the new winner of our Wicked Witch Award.

As an employee, Angela Johnson stands behind the Amazon group publishing single women's addresses in books they print for the morally hideous plagiarist David B. Boyer.  Even when the women complain that this puts them at risk.  Yes, Amazon produced a book by the plagiarist wherein he writes and the Amazon group prints the name and address of two single women who live alone.

One is a brilliant writer who also happens to be a victim of polio with limited mobility.

The other, Jeani Rector, is portrayed in ways in his book that make her feel threatened.  She contacted the Amazon group for help, but in direct violation of their company's posted policy, Angela Johnson won't help her.

Angela Johnson is rapidly becoming the poster child of Amazon's crass insensitivity to its own customers and readers.  If she's an example of the way Jeffrey Bezos wants to treat writers and customers, let's all shop at Barnes and Noble.

Barnes and Noble is starting to look like a knight in shining armor.

Amazon is starting to look like a rusty tin can.

Angela Johnson might at least try polishing the can.

She exemplifies Amazon's callous treatment of its own Privacy Policy.

Here's an idea for you to think about Angela- we're the customers.  Pay attention to us.  Read your company's own Privacy Policy and your Commitment to Your Customers before you talk down to people like Jeani Rector.

Forgot some of your company's policies?  Here, let me help you:

"Content Guidelines...

Illegal Items

Items sold through the CreateSpace service must adhere to all applicable laws. This includes the sale of items by individuals outside the United States. Some items that may not be sold include any products which may lead to the production of an illegal item or illegal activity.

Stolen Goods

If CreateSpace learns that an item is not the property of the seller, or was obtained through illegal means, we will immediately remove the item from our service.

Items that Infringe Upon an Individual's Privacy

CreateSpace holds personal privacy in the highest regard. Therefore, items that infringe upon, or have potential to infringe upon, an individual's privacy are prohibited. Additionally, the sale of marketing lists (bulk e-mail lists, direct-mail marketing lists, etc.) is prohibited..."


How did Angela handle this problem?  Take a look at some of what she told Jeani:

"Dear Ms. Rector,

On April 27, 2012 the response from our Legal Department was provided with regards to your inquiry regarding the book by David Boyer. We will not be providing further insight on this decision."

Way to go, Miss Sensitive!!!

David Boyer's latest trash book lists Jeani's home address and tries to stoke outrage against her with made-up trash and hideously gawdawful writing.   David B. Boyer is the plagiarist, thief and con man.  And the Amazon group pretends they don't know.

Congratulations, Angela, you really deserve the Wicked Witch Award.

Amazon Takes New Position on Selling Plagiarized Books

Before reading this, please remember that the noted aboriginal psychic Sven Heruingal predicted last Thursday before breakfast that without more signatures on the petition in the upper left hand corner of this blog, your chances of being plagiarized might be increased.

*****

I had my notebook out and my Montblanc pen balanced on the edge of my salad bowl.  It was my way of telling her that I was ready to take notes at a moment's notice, although Tahini sauce tends to smear the ink.


Before arriving, I'd clipped my press pass to my collar so she'd recognize me.

"So, as someone who looks like a celebrity lawyer but isn't,"  I said,  "can you confirm to this reporter beyond a shadow of a doubt that the serial plagiarist David B. Boyer from Vincennes, IN and Amazon are in a way business partners?"

"No," she said.

I wanted to eat some of my tabouli, but didn't want to spend hours flossing the little parsley flakes out from between my teeth.

"But doesn't Amazon publish a lot of plagiarized material through CreateSpace?"

"Define a lot," she smiled, and for a moment I thought she looked like Nancy Grace would if she were attractive.

"Too much?"  I offered.


She adjusted her glasses to look down her nose.

"According to Judge Judy, the phrase business partners can mean many things."

"Try this,"  I said,  "David B. Boyer and others like him steal the copyrighted work of other writers. He and the other sleaze-buckets send this stolen work to one of the Amazon owned companies who then turns this digital theft into a hard copy product called a book.  Then the main Amazon company sells the stolen content which is also now a physical product through its main outlet and gives it to a bunch of distributors to sell so more innocent people are implicated in this crooked operation.  All because Amazon, with their massive computing powers, doesn't even check whether the stuff is stolen.  They do the Wink Wink."

She put down her falafel sandwich and stared at me.

"The what?"

"The Wink Wink," I said.  "That's where even though Amazon has all the computing power in the world to see if the submitted work is stolen, they ask the plagiarist to sign a document that it's not and that way they don't have to check it themselves and find out for sure it's stolen.  That way Amazon can still go on making money on stolen product, they can still pay the thieves to keep on providing stolen product and if anyone complains about it, they say they didn't know."

"You should start your own online bookstore," she said.  "You're pretty good at this."

"I was born to report, ma'am,"  I told her.  "News is in my blood.  Selling stolen product like Amazon does and pretending they have no responsibility for their involvement might make them money, but I still have my own press pass.  You have to be an ace reporter to get one of these."

I thought she'd be impressed.  Instead she made me an offer that shocked me.  When a woman in a low cut red dress makes you a shocking offer, you pay attention.

"Hypothetically, and with no basis in reality, if Amazon made their plagiarized book sales into a separate division or company, would a good looking reporter like you be interested in running it?"

I thought about it.  If she would have said hot looking reporter, I might have taken the bait.

"No, ma'am," I said.  "It's not the fact that it would be sleazy but profitable, it's just that  Amazon's logo is embarrassing.  It's not relevant to their pretend-they-don't know-they-publish-plagiarized-writing business model."

"And what would you propose?"  she asked.

I shoved a photo across the table at her.  Our fingers brushed as she stared wide-eyed at the picture I've posted on this blog.  It could easily be made into the new Amazon logo and she knew it.

Thing is, when a company's executives stick their head in the sand while their operating units are buying and selling stolen material, the Federal Trade Commission can come along and kick them in the ass.  Maybe I should let the FTC know about this scam.

Maybe I'll just stick with being a reporter.  

I Filed a Federal Trade Commission Complaint Today Against Amazon

Don't forget to sign the petition in the upper left hand corner!!  

And, today I filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission today against Amazon.  They publish and sell some of Boyer's plagiarized work, so they're responsible for making products (books) out of stolen materials.  They may argue that they can't know which books are plagiarized and it's not their responsibility to check.  If they do, they'll look really, really stupid.  Every other major business is held accountable by the law, and they're no different.  They think they're big and they can do what they want.  Too bad.

You see, Amazon is a business associate of America's sleaziest serial plagiarist- David B. Boyer.  Being associated with a big time plagiarist is probably bad for business.   Not good for their image.

It's my first federal complaint.  But Barnes and Noble is next in line.

Right now, they're all collecting profits from stolen writing and not even checking their raw materials (our writing).  Think about this- if B Thoughtful can track down that these works are stolen, why can't Amazon get off their corporate ass and do the same?

Maybe they ought to pay B Thoughtful to do it for them.  Or start doing it themselves.  Right now they look like they enjoy being partners with plagiarists because they keep publishing stolen works and splitting the profits with the plagiarists.

And, so you can see what I sent the Federal Trade Commission, here's the formal complaint I filed:

*****

"I've bought books from Amazon by an author David B. Boyer of Vincennes, IN that turned out to be plagiarized.  I informed amazon that they were plagiarized and they are still selling them.  In fact, mine isnt the only case.  David B. Boyer is the most prolific in stealing other writers works, having them turned into books by Amazon and others so they both profit from them, but Ive been reading about all sorts of other authors that find their works stolen, turned into books by Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Lulu then sold.  They then pay the plagiarist a share of the profits for the stolen goods.  Doesnt that make them business partners.  These are physical goods and they are stolen.  And, they sell them across the country.  Isnt that across state lines?

And Amazon and Barnes and Noble have the resources to check and see if the books are stolen content.  If another company bought stolen goods and kept reselling them for profit, wouldnt that be Consumer Fraud?

Theress a whole webwsite devoted to this one thief David Boyer and Amazon has been there and they still have all sorts of his stolen books up for sale.  The Website is http:b-thoughtful2.blogspot.com

This is just blatant consumer fraud.  But Amazon won't stop."

Sign the Online Petition to Make Plagiarism Consumer Fraud

Protect Yourself.  Sign now.

Thank you Mr. Ramsey Campbell for being the first to sign!


But you can all help.

I've started the online petition you see in the upper left hand corner of my blog to bring pressure to bear on the Greg Zoeller, the Attorney General of Indiana, to enforce Indiana Consumer Fraud laws against publishers who plagiarize for profit like David B. Boyer.

His Deputy Attorney General, Tom Irons, Consumer Fraud Division claims he has no jurisdiction to do so, saying that the issue is really an intellectual property issue.  I say when publishers steal copyrighted works, then make them into physical products for sale to consumers that it's Consumer Fraud.  So I'm going over his head with this online petition.  We'll present our collected signatures to Greg Zoeller.  

I'm also contacting major newspapers around in Indiana and across the country to examine this issue in the public domain because it affects all of us.  If any of you know reporters who would be willing to examine the facts as presented at B Thoughtful's blog at http://b-thoughtful2.blogspot.com, please direct them there to see for themselves or have them contact me at rick@whitecatpublications.com 

Boyer's business associates include Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Lulu among others.  I'll be starting another campaign to force them to use their massive computing power to check works they are publishing to see if they're plagiarized.  Let's face it- if B Thoughtful can do this all by herself and find the facts, these publishers who have massive databases of published stories can do the same.  They profit from their published plagiarisms just like creeps like David Boyer.

Enough's enough.

Sign the petition, will you?  Let's bring some pressure to bear on both law enforcement and the giant publishers.

The next novel, story or article that's stolen and published for profit could be yours.

She's Too Grossed Out to Read and It's My Fault

The call came late last night.

"Hello?"

Never sleep with your cell phone near your bed when trying to finish a good dream.

"My daughter won't come out of the closet, you creep.  That sleaze David Boyer's still at it and now she's too grossed out to read.  Thinks Boyer plagiarized Doctor Seuss.  What are you going to do about it?"

I sat straight up in bed.  It was happening all over again.  

"Ma'am," I said, "have you filed a report with the Attorney General of Indiana?"

"Fat lot of good that's done so far.  Where's that book you've been working on about serial plagiarists if you're so smart?"


I slid into my jeans, turned on the light and saw they were on backward.  It's important to label your clothes "Front" and "Back" if you're an emergency plagiary responder.  I made a mental note.

"Sorry about the delay.  I was looking for a new title due to recent events.  Plagiarism is so widespread now I thought I'd call it American Sleaze instead of Indiana Sleaze."

"What kind of plagiary reporter are you?"  she asked.  "You take nine months on a new title?  I gave birth to two kids in nine months."

She had me there.  In my defense, I'd finished two novels and was closing in on a third.  Besides I was giving the Assistant Attorney General of Indiana a little maneuvering room.  And I'd been working on the alien/Boyer connection, but the government's denying everything.  That's how I knew I was on to something.

"Well?"  she snapped.  "How many kids too grossed out to read is it going to take for you to finish that book exposing creeps like David Boyer?"

"Ma'am, I'm not the plagiary police."

"You got the rest of us writers stirred up- you better be something."

"I'm a good investigative reporter," I said.  "Maybe I could put those skills to use."

It's true.  I claim full responsibility for covering Bigfoot's march to Vincennes, Indiana to howl at Boyer.

"Then finish that book!  At least you'll expose him."

I took a deep breath.

"I'll do it," I said.  "You're right.  I got everybody stirred up- time to finish the job."

"Put your pants on straight first," she said and hung up.


Before I did that, I got some duct tape and stuck it over the camera lens on my cellphone.

Is Amazon Guilty of Consumer Fraud?



I like Amazon.  Love them, in fact.  But can someone tell me their corporate address in case Consumer Fraud Charges need to be filed against them?

We know they're the world's largest lovable book store.  Great prices.  Great inventory.  But guess what?  Now they're a publisher, too.

They publish books.

Many fine authors publish via Amazon.

Guess who else they publish? 

David Boyer, the sleazy plagiarist operating out of Vincennes, IN.

So if you're a writer, and David Boyer under one of his many aliases steals your stuff and publishes it for profit through Amazon, is Amazon guilty, too?  They know he's a plagiarist and have yanked some of his plagiarized works off their internet shelves.  But when he sends them a book like "Shadow Dolls" or "Mystery Indiana," they publish them without checking to see if they're plagarized.

So I ask you, if they know he's a plagiarist because they've had to take down some of his books, and they publish his new books without checking to see if they're plagiarized, are they now accomplices?

If they don't take a stand against David Boyer the Vincennes, IN plagiarist, is it because they don't mind making money off of stolen works?

Does this make them guilty of Consumer Fraud?

Call to Action for All Writers- Please Write the Indiana Attorney General

I'm asking for your help.

The Attorney General's Office of Indiana is looking at whether or not to shut down a crooked publisher named David Boyer of Vinncennes, Indiana by using Consumer Fraud regulations.  These can carry criminal penalties as in the case of David Caswell.  Boyer steals other writers works (take a look at the size of the partial list of victims on the left hand side of B-Thoughtful's blog - it's over double that now and she's still updating her database) and illegally sells them to consumers claiming he wrote them.  He steals our stuff and sells it illegally, claiming he is the author.

Remember, like all publishers and or writers, he is operating as a business.  A shoddy, tawdry business, but subject to business and Consumer Fraud regulations nonetheless.  Let's get them enforced.  If it works in Indiana, we can expect similar decisions by AG offices across the country.  If they're not on board, we take the campaign to them.

In the past, the only recourse a writer had was to file an expensive, time consuming and ultimately unproductive lawsuit against creeps like Boyer who them claim they're bankrupt.  Help me change that.  Tell the Attorney General's office for the State of Indiana how important it is for this plagiarist publisher to be subject to the same penalties as any other crooked business.  We want him pursued under Consumer Fraud regulations at their cost, not ours.  He's defrauding consumers by selling them our stuff with his name on it.

International emails of support to the Attorney General of Indiana are also very important.  Show him that writers of the world are you united in their common goal to protect writers.  The email is listed below.
Here's where to send your respectful but firm letters and or emails of support and be sure to include the File Number File No. 10-CP-62157:

Tom Irons



Consumer Protection Division,


Office of the Indiana Attorney General


302 W. Washington St., 5th Floor


Indianapolis, IN 46204

email: Tom.Irons@atg.in.gov
 
 
If we don't act together to convince the Attorney General to shut down the creep David Boyer of Vincennes, Indiana you might be next on the list.  And if he keeps getting away with it, how many more people can steal your work and get it away with it?  Send an email, send a letter or call and leave Tom Irons a respectful but firm message that we need his help.  If you're a member of a writer's group or writing organization, ask them to write, too. 
 
If we can get the Romance Writers of America behind this effort, this guy will go down.  If the SFWA gets behind us, this guy will go down.  That goes for the Myster Writers of America and the HWA, too.  Anyone who knows anyone in those organizations, please ask for their support in this letter writing campaign.  They know how to get out the troops.  I've already contacted the National Writers Union.
 
So now I'm asking you personally to help by contacting Mr. Irons.
 
Let's put a stop to writers having to spend a fortune defending their rights when it's really not only about copyright violation, it's about Consumer Fraud.