Why You Can Trust CNET Amazon pulls pedophile e-book following outcry
"The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure," which was being sold by Amazon for the Kindle, has been pulled from the site after threats arose to boycott the e-tailer.
Amazon.com has yanked an e-book written for pedophiles from its Kindle store following a wave of complaints and boycott threats.
As of this writing, "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover's Code of Conduct" still appears in Amazon's search results for the phrase "pedophile guide." But clicking on the link of the book's title now triggers an Amazon page that states: "We're sorry. The Web address you entered is not a functioning page on our site."
Written and self-published apparently by Phillip R. Greaves, the book has been labeled a how-to guide for pedophiles, with advice on how to avoid getting caught and how to take the proper precautions, according to a page excerpted by TechCrunch.
Though the book's details are no longer online, a Google-cached version of its page reveals Greaves' description of his work as "my attempt to make pedophile situations safer for those juveniles that find themselves involved in them, by establishing certian [sic] rules for these adults to follow. I hope to achieve this by appealing to the better nature of pedosexuals, with hope that their doing so will result in less hatred and perhaps liter [sic] sentences should they ever be caught."
The e-book hit Amazon's Kindle Store on October 28, but it wasn't until news of the book surfaced over the past couple of days that public furor reared up. Among the 2,500 customer reviews on Amazon, many of the angry commenters said they wouldn't buy anything from Amazon until the book was removed.
A Facebook page called "Boycott Amazon For Selling Pedophile Guide" pulled together more than 3,500 people. And comments about the book have lit up the Twittersphere.
In a phone interview with CNN yesterday, Greaves defended his book and said that "true pedophiles love children and would never hurt them." But when CNN asked if the e-book was a how-to manual, he said "there are certain parts that are advisory" and added further that "penetration is out. You can't do that with a child, but kissing and fondling I don't think is that big of a problem."
Amazon itself had been defending the listing of the book under the grounds of free speech. In a statement to the BBC, the online retailer had said: "Amazon believes it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable. Amazon does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts, however, we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions."