From the author: My next book is The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation: it’s a Big Tech disassembly manual that explains how to disenshittify the web and bring back the old good internet. The hardcover comes from Verso on Sept 5, but the audiobook comes from me – because Amazon refuses to sell my audio.
They have a platform and process for selling digital access to audiobooks and ebooks. Selling access to that type of content in an way that circumvents those DRM requirements is against their Terms of Service.
True. But it still amounts to them refusing to sell his audio. If you want to be pedantic, Amazon doesn’t sell ebooks or audiobooks at all. They sell licenses to access the content. You can argue that Doctorow should be saying that he refuses to market his content in accordance with their policies. But I’m in favor of him framing it this way. It underscores who the real shitheels are here.