[alexgieg]

I see I'm being down voted for the above comment. I guess it's being interpreted as racist? If so, I apologize, it wasn't my intention, quite the opposite. I'm white, yes, but I live in Brazil, where goods, specially electronic ones, cost 2 to 3 times what they do in the USA, and virtual ones, such as ebooks, which could be cheap, are usually region locked out of our reach. So, I meant the quotes as ironic, as my intention was to criticize companies for doing these price games. As for Asians, I have the utmost respect for them and their achievements, to the point of following Eastern religions (I'm a Shintoist and a Buddhist), so it would never, ever, cross my mind to even come near attacking them. Lastly, although somewhat I'm articulate in English, it's a second language for me, and one I learned by myself through books, not by attending classes, my native one being Portuguese, so it can also be the case that the way I expressed myself didn't come out as I intended (expressing sarcasm properly is way more difficult than writing in a straightforward way). So, if that also came into play, please let me apologize again!

And, if it'd be possible for someone to, taking into account the above, point me what exactly I did wrong in the original comment, so that I can avoid such mistakes in the future, please do so, as being a non-native speaker there's no other way for me to know other than asking someone who is. I'd love to read it, and be sure I'll start applying the lesson immediately!

Thanks!

[chc]

You might not know this since it's your second language, but it sounds pretty rude in English to refer to Asians as "yellows". That alone will make people read your comment through the lens of "this guy doesn't respect other races."

In informal settings, you can generally call people of western European descent "white" and people of African descent "black," but for other races, referring to them by stereotypical colors will get you pegged as culturally insensitive at best.

Couple that with the fact that blanket statements about races are treading on thin ice even in the most benign circumstances and you'll see what happened here.

[tptacek]

I think it's the racial allusions. I don't think you intended to sound cavalier about race, but I can see how someone reading very quickly would come to that conclusion.

[djacobs]

In addition to what tptacek said, viewing pricing through the race lens is grossly oversimplifying the state of the world. Copyright protection laws, cost of living, and other local market conditions are probably much more important than race when firm X decides its pricing tiers.

[tptacek]

So, you disagree with him. Better to say why than to downmod to express the sentiment. On the other hand, people are hair-trigger here about race, and for somewhat decent reasons.