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NOVEMBER 11, 2010, 5:10 PM
Amazon Under Attack for Sale of Pedophile Book
By NICK BILTON
Screenshot of Amazon Web site A book about pedophiles had been removed from Amazon’s Web site on Thursday afternoon.
Whether they like it or not, most technology companies, including Apple, Google and Amazon, are no longer simply technology companies, but are also content creators and curators.
This was apparent for Google last year when an indecorous image of Michelle Obama was displayed as the top result in the company’s image search. It’s also been illustrated through Apple’s curation of iPhone applications, specifically denying sexually explicit apps the company deems offensive.
Now Amazon is answering for third-party content on its site as a heated debate over a book promoting pedophilia has erupted online.
On Wednesday TechCrunch’s MG Siegler lit the match that led to a firestorm with a blog post that asked why Amazon would allow the book “The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure,” into the Kindle online bookstore. Mr. Siegler questioned why a book promoting something that is technically illegal had not been banned by the online retailer.
In response to the blog post, and another by TechCrunch’s founder, Michael Arrington, Amazon issued a statement saying:
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.
This is when the small debate exploded into an online atom bomb, with thousands of people threatening on Twitter to “boycott Amazon” if the company did not stop selling the book, as well as thousands of Amazon users attacking the book’s author on the book’s page on Amazon.
As of late afternoon Thursday the book had been removed from the site, and the link to the book had been replaced with an error page telling users “We’re sorry. The Web address you entered is not a functioning page on our site.”
But the controversy seems to have backfired to some degree. When Mr. Siegler wrote about the book on Wednesday it was ranked 155,221 out of all the books for sale on Amazon. Before it was banned on Thursday, the book was in the top 100 books sold—and quickly moving up the charts. Amazon did not respond to a request for comment via e-mail.
Removing the book might have extended consequences, however. People are now demanding that other books covering the topic of pedophilia be removed from the site, with threats continuing on Facebook and Twitter to continue boycotting the retailer until the books are stricken from the site entirely.
Philip R. Greaves, who authored the book at the center of the controversy, tried to defend his book on a local newscast in Pueblo, Colo. He said he “doesn’t agree with society’s perception of pedophilia.”
“Every time you see them on television, they’re either murderers, rapists or kidnappers, and, you know, that’s just not an accurate presentation of that particular sexuality, it’s not,” Mr. Greaves told the station.
Amazon Under Attack for Sale of Pedophile Book
By NICK BILTON
Screenshot of Amazon Web site A book about pedophiles had been removed from Amazon’s Web site on Thursday afternoon.
Whether they like it or not, most technology companies, including Apple, Google and Amazon, are no longer simply technology companies, but are also content creators and curators.
This was apparent for Google last year when an indecorous image of Michelle Obama was displayed as the top result in the company’s image search. It’s also been illustrated through Apple’s curation of iPhone applications, specifically denying sexually explicit apps the company deems offensive.
Now Amazon is answering for third-party content on its site as a heated debate over a book promoting pedophilia has erupted online.
On Wednesday TechCrunch’s MG Siegler lit the match that led to a firestorm with a blog post that asked why Amazon would allow the book “The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure,” into the Kindle online bookstore. Mr. Siegler questioned why a book promoting something that is technically illegal had not been banned by the online retailer.
In response to the blog post, and another by TechCrunch’s founder, Michael Arrington, Amazon issued a statement saying:
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.
This is when the small debate exploded into an online atom bomb, with thousands of people threatening on Twitter to “boycott Amazon” if the company did not stop selling the book, as well as thousands of Amazon users attacking the book’s author on the book’s page on Amazon.
As of late afternoon Thursday the book had been removed from the site, and the link to the book had been replaced with an error page telling users “We’re sorry. The Web address you entered is not a functioning page on our site.”
But the controversy seems to have backfired to some degree. When Mr. Siegler wrote about the book on Wednesday it was ranked 155,221 out of all the books for sale on Amazon. Before it was banned on Thursday, the book was in the top 100 books sold—and quickly moving up the charts. Amazon did not respond to a request for comment via e-mail.
Removing the book might have extended consequences, however. People are now demanding that other books covering the topic of pedophilia be removed from the site, with threats continuing on Facebook and Twitter to continue boycotting the retailer until the books are stricken from the site entirely.
Philip R. Greaves, who authored the book at the center of the controversy, tried to defend his book on a local newscast in Pueblo, Colo. He said he “doesn’t agree with society’s perception of pedophilia.”
“Every time you see them on television, they’re either murderers, rapists or kidnappers, and, you know, that’s just not an accurate presentation of that particular sexuality, it’s not,” Mr. Greaves told the station.
:wiglaf:
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