Even as websites for Paypal and Mastercard suffer “Anonymous” blowback for closing Wikileaks accounts, Amazon UK has made a Kindle version of the latest document dump available for download. Ironically, the same 4chan hackers who attacked Mastercard and Paypal (and Sarah Palin?) have promised a similar attack on Amazon.com today, in retaliation for the site shutting down Wikileaks’ US server for what it called a “Terms of Service” violation. It seems that Amazon, Paypal, and Visa can now have their cake and eat it, too.

Amazon.com sent out word today that the sale of electronic books (books in digital form that can be read on devices like the Kindle or iPad) have outsold hardcover books for the past three months. Presumably softcover books are still holding onto their “most purchased” title, but it may only be a matter of time before they as well fall to the digitized onslaught. This is a sad day for Luddites everywhere. And a happy one for folks who hate paper cuts.

In today’s New York Times, writer Motoko Rich is surprisingly rough on Amazon’s Kindle, bullying the e-reader by analyzing its best-sellers list – and finding that more than half of them are available for free. Ostensibly, the piece is about how publishers are working to spur sales by giving away titles, hoping “that customers who like what they read will go on to obtain another title for money.” But dare we say, this Times piece sounds like it was written by… a blogger.

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that HarperCollins is in talks with Apple to bring e-books to its much-hyped Tablet, set to be revealed (fingers crossed) on January 27th. But even more interesting? The ebooks “would have added features.” This implies video. And color. And pictures. And social media. In books!

Who: Wallace Shawn, Tony Kushner, and Walter Mosley, moderated by Gene Seymour. What: The Nation’s “What Will Become of Our Culture?” Where: Symphony Space When November 18, 2009 Thumbs: Up