ONLINE retail giant Amazon has stared down a storm of protest for selling a self-published electronic book called The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure.
The book – published on October 28 by Phillip R. Greaves – has aroused angry criticism mostly aimed at the Seattle-based retailer for offering it for sale.
Amazon allows writers to publish their own works in its online stores and shares in the revenue. The book, described by its author as an “attempt to make pedophile situations safer for those juveniles . . . by establishing certain rules for these adults to follow”, is available for Amazon’s Kindle reader.
It has attracted almost 800 reviews on its Amazon page, with 760 giving it the lowest possible ranking of one star. Many reviewers threatened to boycott the company unless the book was removed.
“There is no excuse for Amazon to be offering this product,” one visitor writes. “I’ve removed my Amazon shop from my website and won’t be doing any Christmas or household shopping through Amazon.com until this product is gone.”
However, others praised the retailer for upholding US first amendment rights.
“While I deplore the agenda of this book, I defend the author’s right to say what he wants and the readers’ rights to read what they wish as long as it doesn’t escalate into something more than speech,” one wrote.
Amazon said in a statement that it “believes it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable”.
The company issues guidelines banning certain materials, including offensive content. However, it does not elaborate on what might be considered inappropriate content, saying “what we deem offensive is probably what you would expect”.
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