Amazon vs Hachette - Pits Author Against Author - Why?

I'm not understanding why the spat between Amazon and Hachette is any different than Barnes and Noble against Simon and Shuster.

New York Times headlines on March 22, 2013 say: "Orders Cut, as Publisher and Retailer Quarrel"

A standoff over financial terms has prompted the bookstore chain Barnes & Noble to cut back substantially on the number of titles it orders from the publishing house Simon & Schuster, raising fears among other publishers, agents and authors that the conflict may harm the publishing industry as a whole.

Industry executives, as well as authors of recently published Simon & Schuster books and their agents, say that Barnes & Noble has reduced book orders greatly, to almost nothing in the case of some lesser-known writers. They contend that the move is damaging their sales. Authors say the retail chain has taken other steps, like not giving them display space or allowing book tour appearances in its stores.

So where was the angst? The name-calling? The panels of breathlessly terrified agents and writers waving pitchforks and torches.

I don't know.

According to the above - those hurt worst were 'lesser-known writers' though there is a picture of Judi Picoult's 'The Storyteller' on the page. She's hardly an unknown writer.

Stephen Colbert never flipped Barnes and Noble the bird. (Sigh) I could have used the 'Colbert Bump' then, too. James Patterson never made a peep.

I guess they weren't concerned - as they are Hachette authors not S&S.

A couple weeks ago - 'Swallow the Moon' went free for a glorious run on the Bestseller's List. It's still free at Amazon UK and getting a few downloads every day. That's a good thing, as far as I'm concerned.

I guess that makes me a minon of the Evil Amazon Empire.

I spent years on Authonomy.com enjoyed the comradery and reviewed a lot of books. Same with Kindleboards, spent a lot of time and enjoyed myself. Now it's Goodreads.com where I drop in a couple times a week to socialize with other authors. I don't think that makes me the minon of any of these boards, or of Apple, Sony, Barnes & Noble, or Kobo.

If anything, I've had more sales on Sony and Apple in the last 2 years, does that make me a minon of Smashwords?