[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?

[wpietri]

The most obvious category are things that have already been made illegal. Like Ponzi schemes. Or waste management companies that engage in illegal dumping. Or the Chinese food companies that were substituting melamine for edible protein.

From there you get more subtle categories. Cigarette companies are legal, but sinister. People making magnetic healing bracelets: Do they believe in what they're selling? Some do, but I'm sure some just ship whatever sells. There are many financial companies that I expect are effectively sociopathic, in that as long as they make a profit, they don't care what happens around them.

An interesting parallel is the charm and manipulative ability that people associate with sociopaths. In corporations, that's the advertising and PR departments.

[regularfry]

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