Defending the Integrity of the Book Review System

My little corner of the Internet has been awash lately with news and opinions related to a few famous authors who have been "busted" for using reviews questionably. The commentary has ranged in tone from outraged to unconcerned.

What happened is that a few authors have admitted to, or were proven to be, engaging in the following behaviors:

Paying for positive reviews of their books Using "sock puppet" (false) accounts to write positive reviews of their own books Using sock puppet accounts to...