Cafepress Caught in the Middle

They are a California company who print t-shirts and other items with slogans chosen by customers. Some of those customers say politically incorrect things. The firm DOES censor a lot of the things customers submit. They do not rely entirely on the First Amendment to protect what they produce. But they do not censor enough for some. Two comments below. One from a Frenchman who feels dissed at what they sell and another by an outspoken customer who thinks they are too wishy-washy.

Hubert, who had previously purchased a T-shirt from CafePress.com poking fun at the head-butting French soccer player Zinedine Zidane, was aware that company produced material offensive to the French. But he was concerned that the inclusion of French-bashing products in the company newsletter was either a tasteless oversight or a de facto endorsement.... A couple of e-mails and a voice mail to the company's publicity department produced some promising results - a link to the newsletter with the offending items deleted, and another link to a host of White Power items was blocked. But a host of offensive items remained, and an e-mail from a company representative implied that the company could not possibly review all of the designs needed to produce the estimated 45,000 new items that users submit every day.

And:

Ask John Moore and he'll tell you that the company's prohibited content guidelines are most definitely implemented. Moore, the owner of NastyBanners.com and designer of the "F*** Hezbollah Ragheads" tote bag, has been prohibited from selling certain items due to potential copyright infringement and objection over certain content. Once, said Moore, he tried to submit an image of Osama bin Laden on Hitler's body, but the design was deemed unacceptable. "I was trying to make a connection with Nazism and Islamofascism, because they're both the same," explained Moore. "But the liberals have forgotten this.... After being censored by CafePress.com, Moore doesn't mind doing business with the company. "They seem like nice people ... but they're liberals," said Moore. "They're just trying to cover their butts from a legal and economic standpoint."

It seems a pity to me that they do ANY censoring. I guess they don't want to spend money on a First Amendment court case. Given that they would probably encounter the 9th Circus at some stage, I don't suppose anyone can blame them. Quotes above from here