Pentagon Buying Up All Copies Of A Book It's Not Happy About

from the like-that-will-work dept

Mon, Sep 13th 2010 1:59pm — Mike Masnick

jake andrews points us to the news that the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is quite upset with a new book about the war in Afghanistan by an army reservist. Even though the Army approved the book, the DIA says that it did not approve the book and that it has too much confidential information. In order to deal with that, the Pentagon has apparently agreed to buy up the 10,000 copies already printed in order to destroy them. A new version of the book, without the DIA-upsetting material will be printed later. Of course, this attempt at information destruction doesn't really seem to be working. The author has already talked about lots of stuff in the book, and review copies of the original book had already been sent to many press outlets. In other words, it's unlikely that this effort at suppression will work very well... It's tough to kill off information that's already out there.

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Filed Under: censorship, free speech

29 Comments

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ofb2632 (profile), 13 Sep 2010 @ 2:14pm

Buying up the books
I'd keep printing them until the Pentagon stops buying them!! That is a great way to make money
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Jay (profile), 13 Sep 2010 @ 2:20pm

I wonder what happens when the info shows up on wikipedia.
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Jim, 13 Sep 2010 @ 2:21pm

Printing heck.
This is a CLEAR case for digital distribution if I've ever seen one.

1. Set up a digital sales and distribution system
2. Let the pentagon try to buy up every digital copy.
3. Profit!!!
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Danny, 13 Sep 2010 @ 2:23pm

I'm with Jim
Let's see them buy every digital copy to keep people from seeing it. No if there was a digital copy they would just send the usual nasty gran with a C&D order backed by a lawsuit threat.
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:Lobo Santo (profile), 13 Sep 2010 @ 2:31pm

Re: I'm with Jim
I had a nasty gran--thankfully I do not have one any longer.

; P
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Howard Yermish, 13 Sep 2010 @ 2:36pm

Amplify to Fund Printing
Time to mash these two together. Let anyone buy a digital version for $1 or give away for free if willing to host the PDF on a website which would include a link to the $1 donation. Then use the money for the next run of printing. And so on, and so on...
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DannyB (profile), 13 Sep 2010 @ 2:43pm

The pentagon should also burn those books
<sarcasm>
The most intelligent people in history have burned books, and found that doing so is the most effective possible way of stopping the spread of undesirable ideas and information that we need to be protected from.

The pentagon's tragedy strategy of buying up the books is also infinitely scalable. They can buy books faster and in greater quantity than the publishers can produce and sell them.

If an unknown obscure preacher can gain national attention by threatening to burn the quoran, and can imagine that he has negotiating power and can even get whole buildings moved, then surely the pentagon should follow the same successful strategy.

Even if the pentagon doesn't burn them, then whatever other means of destruction they use will be equally effective at stopping the spread of these ideas and information. If that doesn't work they can also announce that they will hold their breath until this information stops spreading.
</sarcasm>
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Sep 2010 @ 2:56pm

Sounds interesting. Where can I get a copy?
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Cohen (profile), 13 Sep 2010 @ 2:57pm

I am an author of computer graphics books.

If the Pentagon will tell me what it was they didn't like in the reservist's book, I can put it into my book too.

And then they can buy up all the copies.

10,000 copies will be about $20,000 in royalties.

Of course if the reservist has PDF copies of his book floating around, the Pentagon will never get back all the copies of the book.
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Kevin (profile), 13 Sep 2010 @ 2:59pm

Sounds like a fine use of all that money we keep either printing or borrowing.
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TDR, 13 Sep 2010 @ 3:09pm

So when is the Pentagon going to start goose-stepping? Talk about forgetting history...
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James (profile), 13 Sep 2010 @ 3:13pm

"You Can't stop the signal", Mal.

or

"Information want's to be free".
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Sep 2010 @ 3:17pm

there is more to the story
Queue the TAM comments...

According to the article in the NYT:
"The disputed material includes the names of American intelligence officers who served with Colonel Shaffer and his accounts of clandestine operations, including N.S.A. eavesdropping operations, according to two people briefed on the Pentagon’s objections."

Sounds like the author has been working with the gov to make sure the book is approved. The book contains people's names and that seems to be the major issue. So they are working a second version without the names. So the gov wants to buy up the books in an attempt to protect its people. Big deal. Their plan may not work but this does not seem like some kind of conspiracy or some way to stifle the author's speech.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Sep 2010 @ 3:25pm

[sarcasm]Good to see the tax payers money being so wisely used[/sarcasm]
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TDR, 13 Sep 2010 @ 3:38pm

Re: there is more to the story
You're assuming, of course, that the NYT is being truthful there. No guarantee of that.
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Pickle Monger (profile), 13 Sep 2010 @ 3:58pm

The truth is out there
Here's a thought. Someone will eventually compare the original edition with the new edition and will be able to tell EAXCTLY which information the DIA was trying to supress...
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drew, 13 Sep 2010 @ 4:20pm

Re: Buying up the books
That's great, except that I object to spending my tax dollars in that manner.
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NAMELESS.ONE, 13 Sep 2010 @ 4:25pm

@1 and @2
hey why stop there guys why not get a copy and start printing up copies galore
GO GO GO
tell them your going to die and leave a copy to all the known relatives and there relatives and so on that you have back to anti diluvian times MUHAHA
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Martin LaBelle (profile), 13 Sep 2010 @ 4:51pm

Burn it all
You know it is pretty poor taste to go on a book burning spree. Especially in the wake of the 'international burn a Qur'an Day'. Ah... it would be funny if it only it were not real life.
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Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 13 Sep 2010 @ 5:41pm

Re: Buying up the books
You won’t be able to tell your tax dollars were spent on this, because it’ll be included as a “black budget” item.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Sep 2010 @ 6:47pm

Re: The truth is out there
That will naturally lead to the question why? and upon asking that question people will start inferring the answers and digging into the questions more to try and figure out what the true answers are.
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Martin LaBelle (profile), 13 Sep 2010 @ 7:07pm

Censorship Capitalist style
After a few hours of though, and a glass of wine. I've decided that is actually quite funny. I guess the military could have tried to "suppress it in the name of security". I actually prefer them simply buying the Author off. I wonder what could have been so bad. As a Soldier, I often wonder why things are kept secret... is it because they're dangerous or because they're embarrassing?
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Faceless Minion, 14 Sep 2010 @ 12:00am

Re: Censorship Capitalist style
I have to admit, it's certainly a nicer approach then lots of the heavy handed garbage that is prevalent in shutting people up. Perhaps this is embarrassing enough that buying the author off is preferable, here? Perhaps they hope that when he's sitting pretty on cash he won't make as much of a fuss.
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Stephen Paulger, 14 Sep 2010 @ 2:21am

A keen journalist who has a press copy of the original will surely now get hold of the DIA's preferred version and look for the differences.
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Pax Vobiscum, 14 Sep 2010 @ 9:46am

Buy (and/or burn) the books...
Various three-letter agencies have been been doing things like this for decades (and we call ourselves a democracy). Still, kind of tame as compared to out and out murder - contrary to the early school years assertions that the Ends do not justify the Means. As a (recent) former VP said, "We do it because we can."
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Sep 2010 @ 1:35pm

Misleading Story / Subject
This isn't really anything major, other than the DIA is doing the right thing. Basically, the book has the real names of some people that could be put in danger if it was general knowledge (expect the original to be WikiLeaked...).

They screwed up when consulting on the book originally and didn't get the names altered or redacted and it's already been printed up. Instead of leaving the publisher in the cold, they're going to buy all the first runs.

Basically they've taken ownership for a mistake and the book is still being released, just without the names of the people that could supposedly/possibly be put in danger.

Nothing to see here, move along...
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Anonymous Coward, 14 Sep 2010 @ 9:58pm

Its amazing how those who are supposed to be fighting for free speech are getting their free speech abridged by the very government they're fighting for.
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demandsocial, 15 Sep 2010 @ 9:35pm

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Martin LaBelle (profile), 22 Sep 2010 @ 3:28pm

Re: Censorship Capitalist style
At least it's capitalist censorship.
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