A Wall Street Journal article reports that Amazon, the monster e-retailer, is now using the same technique against Disney that it has been using for four months against publishing giant Hachette. While Amazon disputes business arrangements with both companies, it flexes its muscle by suspending pre-orders for products and elongating shipping times. Disney’s DVD and Blu-ray for Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Maleficent, for example, are no longer available for pre-order at Amazon.
The book business has responded with protests from name authors–900 of them signed an anti-Amazon petition that ran in the Sunday New York Times. No word yet whether Disney will mount a similar public relations campaign, though it might be a powerful one. Using actors from Captain America: The Winter Soldier alone, Disney could call on Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Redford and Scarlett Johansson for support. Disney could also produce signatures from such influential and sympathetic characters as Bambi, Pocahontas, Pinocchio and Aladdin, who is said to be–in certain circles–even more powerful than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
