Del Rey manga publishing censorship controversy
Initially I held off from posting this wank report, but there have been further developments to add to its wankiness. So my first report:

Del Rey announced they were starting a manga imprint, licensing several series, including Gundam Seed and some Clamp series. Most people on AnimeonDVD forums seemed optimistic and open-minded about the newcomers with a "wait and see" attitude. Then someone happened to be reading the online diary of Ken Akamatsu, manga-ka of Negima! Magister Negi Magi and noticed how astonished Akamatsu was of the changes required by his American publishers, mostly covering up objectionable displays of skin. Rumors flew all over the place, although the discussion remained remarkably civil, all things considered. Well mostly.

Dallas Middaugh, Director of Manga, Del Rey, stepped into the fray:

In response to the questions about the artwork in NEGIMA Volume 1, we did alter the art slightly in about ten panels, with the full knowledge of the artist. Please be assured that the panel changes do not affect the storyline in any way. These changes were an editorial decision based on our goal as a publishing house to get Ken Akamatsu’s brilliant work into as many U.S. bookstores as possible...

That went over like a lead balloon. Pre-orders have been cancelled and people are questioning whether to pick up the Clamp books, which are supposedly left unscathed. They're pointing out that other series like "Love Hina" are being put into regular bookstores without being edited. The really objectionable stuff like "Battle Royale" or Erica Sakurazawa books get shrink-wrapped. Del Rey was a new player in the manga field, so they've probably lost quite a few new customers in the process from the diehard fans.

The only real fly in this discussion came from Toren Smith of Studio Proteus. He initially posted a reaction to the news. I'm paraphrasing badly from memory but that Del Rey was learning the meaning of the word schadenfreude first hand. Several people I think commented on how bitter Toren sounded, maybe more so with the selling of Studio Proteus. Then he observed:

The entire sub-thread that began with my schadenfreude post has been CENSORED out of existence.
Hmm.
Censorship on a thread about the evils of censorship.

Chris Beveridge, AnimeonDVD owner, countered:

No, it was taken out after your personal attack on another user and the unconstructive and hostile tone it was taking compared to the rest of the thread.

At 26 pages of comments, there appears no end in sight.

UPDATE: Or maybe not. Del Rey changed its mind, making it shrinkwrapped instead and labelled with 16+/explicit content.