[btipling]

Shopzilla probably has bad links that are driving down its SEO and page rank on Google and they are trying to get low quality sites to remove those bad links. It is totally OK for them to want to have links removed to their site, since some of them may be damaging their SEO and hence their earnings. Maybe the method used is a little over the top, but there is probably nothing wrong with their intentions.

If someone asks you to remove a link to their site in a post where you criticized them, I would feel uncomfortable with it, but in this case you and them are acting in good faith, just remove the link. That they used a lawyer just means they really want you to remove the link.

Edit: Uh oh, looks like this innocuous reply is not compatible with uncritical outraged HN readers looking to punish someone, anything for all the bad things Shopzilla has done to them and the world. Let the downvotes commence I guess.

[regularfry]

It's OK for them to want links removed. It's entirely beyond the pail to be able to enforce removal at lawyer-point just because it's damaging their SEO. Why should their SEO efforts be protected by law from random passers-by? The law isn't there to protect their profits.

[grey-area]

It's entirely beyond the pail [sic] to be able to enforce removal

It's beyond the pale (as in the paling fence surrounding a town, the pale of settlement, etc...).

[regularfry]

Ah! I was wondering which way round it was supposed to be.

[btipling]

Shopzilla just wants the links removed. This method has probably worked for them. They don't care if HN's never ending stream of daily outrage focuses on them for a short time (before moving on to a new thing to be outraged about tomorrow). They just want the links removed.

I'm not defending them. I'm just trying to make sense out of it.

[wpietri]

People "just wanting" something without regard for the consequences to others are acting like sociopaths.

[cinquemb]

I'm sure the fear of being called a sociopath has scared many people from doing what they want...

If a business just wants something, can it really be sociopathic in the same way a person wants something?

[wpietri]

Businesses can't "want" anything.

But if we, for our analytical convenience, pretend they are people and therefore can want things, then yes, they can be sociopathic.

[cinquemb]

I'm curious, from what you stated: what businesses would you consider to be sociopathic?

[regularfry]

If you're not trying to defend them, your language could use a little work. Apologies if English isn't your first.

[tehwebguy]

It would have been so smart for Shopzilla to ask nicely, I'm sure they would have obliged.

[mikeash]

Using a lawyer to threaten monetary damages where none are merited makes you ineligible for "acting in good faith".