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Amazon Pulls Lott's Self-Review
2/18/2003
http://www.jointogether.org/gv/news/summaries/reader/0,2061,556669,00.html
Responding to a request from a Join Together Online user, Amazon.com has removed a phony review of a book by pro-gun writer John Lott.
Join Together recently reported that Lott, author of the book, "More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun-Control Laws," admitted to using a psudonym, "Mary Rosh," to defend his work on various Internet sites. Lott also said that a phony review on Amazon, submitted by "Maryrosh," was written by his 13-year-old son, although some critics contend that the writing style in the review is similar to the author's own.
Jim Paoni, a prevention trainer from Springfield, Ill., read the Join Together article and contacted Amazon. "Will Amazon remove the [phony review] or attach a note to inform customers that the post they are reading was done so under these circumstances?" asked Paoni in a note reporting the violation of Amazon's community rules. Paoni included a copy of Join Together's story on the Lott controversy in his correspondence with Amazon.
Two days later, Paoni received a reply from Amazon saying that the phony review had been removed from its site. "We do exert some editorial control over our customer reviews and strive to block these kinds of reviews," according to Amazon. "Our intention is to make the customer review forum a place for constructive commentary and feedback, so reviews that fall outside these guidelines are removed from the website."
The Amazon review from the fictitious "Maryrosh from Philadelphia," posted on Aug. 18, 1999, read:
"If you want to learn about what can stop crime or if you want to learn about many of the myths involving crime that endanger people's lives, this is the book to get.
It was very interesting reading and Lott writes very well. He explains things in an understandable, commonsense way. I have loaned out my copy a dozen times and while it may have taken some effort to get people started on the book, once they read it no one was disappointed.
If you want an emotional book, this is not the book for you. If you want a book with the facts, a book that tells you the benefits and risks from protecting yourself and your family from crime, a book that will explain the facts in a straightforward and clear way, this is the book to get.
This is by far the largest most comprehensive study on crime, let alone on gun control. Professor Lott examines crime rates as well as accidental gun deaths and suicides for all 3,056 counties in the United States by year for 18 years. By comparison, the previous largest study on gun control examined 170 cities within one single year 1980. Lott examined 54,000 observations and the previous largest study looked at 170 observations. Lott used all the FBI data that was available from the first year that they released the county level data to the last year that they had put it out when he wrote his book.
Unlike other studies, Lott used all the data that was available. He did not pick certain cities to include and others to exclude. No previous study had accounted for even a small fraction of the variables that he accounted for."
2/18/2003
http://www.jointogether.org/gv/news/summaries/reader/0,2061,556669,00.html
Responding to a request from a Join Together Online user, Amazon.com has removed a phony review of a book by pro-gun writer John Lott.
Join Together recently reported that Lott, author of the book, "More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun-Control Laws," admitted to using a psudonym, "Mary Rosh," to defend his work on various Internet sites. Lott also said that a phony review on Amazon, submitted by "Maryrosh," was written by his 13-year-old son, although some critics contend that the writing style in the review is similar to the author's own.
Jim Paoni, a prevention trainer from Springfield, Ill., read the Join Together article and contacted Amazon. "Will Amazon remove the [phony review] or attach a note to inform customers that the post they are reading was done so under these circumstances?" asked Paoni in a note reporting the violation of Amazon's community rules. Paoni included a copy of Join Together's story on the Lott controversy in his correspondence with Amazon.
Two days later, Paoni received a reply from Amazon saying that the phony review had been removed from its site. "We do exert some editorial control over our customer reviews and strive to block these kinds of reviews," according to Amazon. "Our intention is to make the customer review forum a place for constructive commentary and feedback, so reviews that fall outside these guidelines are removed from the website."
The Amazon review from the fictitious "Maryrosh from Philadelphia," posted on Aug. 18, 1999, read:
"If you want to learn about what can stop crime or if you want to learn about many of the myths involving crime that endanger people's lives, this is the book to get.
It was very interesting reading and Lott writes very well. He explains things in an understandable, commonsense way. I have loaned out my copy a dozen times and while it may have taken some effort to get people started on the book, once they read it no one was disappointed.
If you want an emotional book, this is not the book for you. If you want a book with the facts, a book that tells you the benefits and risks from protecting yourself and your family from crime, a book that will explain the facts in a straightforward and clear way, this is the book to get.
This is by far the largest most comprehensive study on crime, let alone on gun control. Professor Lott examines crime rates as well as accidental gun deaths and suicides for all 3,056 counties in the United States by year for 18 years. By comparison, the previous largest study on gun control examined 170 cities within one single year 1980. Lott examined 54,000 observations and the previous largest study looked at 170 observations. Lott used all the FBI data that was available from the first year that they released the county level data to the last year that they had put it out when he wrote his book.
Unlike other studies, Lott used all the data that was available. He did not pick certain cities to include and others to exclude. No previous study had accounted for even a small fraction of the variables that he accounted for."
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