Amazon removes 'paedophile's guide' ebook after protests

An ebook for sale on Amazon's website called The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure has been taken down after protests from customers and children's charitiesThe internet retailer Amazon has created a storm of protest with customers and children's charities reacting with alarm to the "deeply worrying" sale of an electronic "Pedophile's Guide".Phillip R Greaves's self-published ebook, The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure, went online on the US site on 28 October, but was not taken down by Amazon.com until last night, after receiving more than 40 outraged reviews from customers and sparking an angry debate on the online retailer's Kindle discussion forum.Chris Cloke, the head of child protection awareness at the NSPCC, reacted with horror and dismay. "It is deeply worrying that books like this, which could encourage adults to commit sex offences against children, are in circulation," he said. "They are abhorrent and should not be made available to a worldwide audience."According to Cloke, the availability of such a book raised difficult issues for the internet retailer. "This concerns corporate responsibility," he said, "but more importantly it is about protecting children from sexual predators."The blurb for Greaves's book argued ? through a blizzard of spelling errors ? that it was the author's "attempt to make pedophile situations safer for those juveniles that find themselves involved in them, by establishing certain rules for these adults to follow" and "appealing to the better nature of pedosexuals, with hope that their doing so will result in less hatred and perhaps lighter sentences should they ever be caught".Parts of the book, subtitled A Child-Lover's Code of Conduct, were available to download as a free sample. Reviewers on Amazon.com responded with revulsion, calling the book "vile, disgusting and inappropriate", and calling for its removal from the site. The controversy also spread to Twitter, with users reaching for hashtags #amazonfail and #BoycottAmazon as customers vowed to keep away from the retailer in protest.In a statement, Amazon said it "believes it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable", adding: "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." However, the offending Greaves ebook has now been taken down from the site. Other ebooks by the same author on different topics remain for sale on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk today.Scott Pack, publisher at HarperCollins's The Friday Project, said incidents such as this were inevitable in the new era of open-access publishing. "Amazon will, as part of their USP, offer every book that is available, and I'm guessing that they don't vet everything that goes up because that wouldn't be feasible," he said. "Some books are going to be crap, some brilliant, some dodgy and some more than offensive. If Amazon says, 'Now you've brought it to our attention, we'll take it down,' that's perfectly reasonable."Nicola Solomon, consultant at London media law firm Finers Stephens Innocent said Amazon was unlikely to have committed a legal offence. "The likelihood is by offering the book for sale Amazon is not publishing the entire work ? they are publishing the title and the link to the work," she said. "It is unlikely that the cover itself commits an offence, eg of obscenity or indecency. Even for the publisher there is a real question about what the offence would be. There has always been a question of whether writing about things incites someone to do them. That's the basic debate of pornography." The book might be "distasteful but not criminal," she added.Amazon is no stranger to claims that content it sells raises concerns about child protection. In 2002 the conservative group United States Justice Foundation threatened to sue Amazon.com for its sale of Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers by David L Riegel, published in 2000 by SafeHaven Foundation Press. The book continues to be for sale on Amazon.com and through third parties on Amazon.co.uk.Amazon.co.uk has declined to offer any further comment.EbooksAmazon.comChild protectionChildrenBooksellersInternetBenedicte Pageguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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