Oy, where to start…?
First of all, let’s start here. I’ve had barely any wine for the last year, and tonight I had about 6 oz and I’m TIPSY. I wouldn’t normally blog in this state, but as I said before, it’s NaBloPoMo and I’m trying to post every day. I don’t have something “saved up” for today so it has to be something “fresh.”
And ALL OVER the twitterverse is controversy about #AmazonFail … Amazon has an ebook for sale called “The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: A child-lover’s code of conduct.” WRONG. DISGUSTING. HORRIBLE. OFFENSIVE. And guess what. Thanks to everyone yelling about it all over the internet, it’s now #80 in paid Kindle sales and has over 2,000 “reviews.” It’s only been on the market since October 28th.
Some of the One Star “reviews” of the book include:
“I can not believe this filth is still up !!! Amazon you screwed yourself by selling this book . Boycott just in time for Black Friday and Christmas !!!! SHAME ON YOU !!! “ – By Pissed Off
“You have lost my business…. and even though it pobably doesn’t mean much, I’m spreading the word!!!! “ – By SouthernVal
“This is disgusting and disgraceful. And illegal. Whomever approved putting this book up should be fired. “ – By dress lover “Cathy”
“I love Amazon and am shocked to see this. I am saddened to have to say that I will not buy or sell one thing from Amazon as long as this book is for sale. I will stick with EBay, Overstock and where ever else I have to go to find what I need.If this is deleted, I will make sure everyone I know hears about it and never spend another dime here. Sick, so diapointed Amazon and I am emptying out my shopping cart, to be saved for later and sellers account now. I hope whoever thought this was protecting free speech is FIRED. You are obviously sick and need help. “ – By Brandy L. Ringgard “bleelee”
“Child molestors are not people, they are subhuman animals who need to be hunted down and destroyed.
Amazon should pull this immediately and turn over all the personal information they have on any purchasers to the proper authorities.“ – By A Customer
Then there are some 5 star reviews, and one in particular that was along the lines of my FIRST thought upon hearing about this book. My immediate thought is – some idiot wrote this TOTALLY NOT SERIOUS ebook to try to rile people up and make a bunch of sales. But I won’t know for sure since I didn’t want to spend the less than $5 to see for myself.
“No one here seems to realize that this book is not a serious creation. It is a production of a website community called 4Chan. They do this kind of stuff all the time! Google the name and you will behold a history of what I like to call “The Id of the Internet”
Kudos 4chan (/b/), you did it again. “ – By PedoBear Stamp of Approval
And another 5-star review,
“Disclaimer that I know will be all too necessary:
I am not a pedophile. I completely condemn all acts of child abuse and believe that people who do molest children are wholly immoral and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
That said, the author has every right to write this book and Amazon has every right to upload it. They could have taken it when people saw it and starting complaining, but they chose not in order to maintain their philosophy of no censorship. This is definitely a book on a disturbing topic, but it’s child molestation that is illegal, not writing about the subject.
Honestly, for those of you who care so much about protecting your kids, you’re not doing yourself any good by bringing so much free publicity to this author and his work. The more you rant about it, the more REAL pedophiles who do have criminal intent will learn about it and decide to give it a read–earning money for the author and Amazon, too. “ – By Tloya
Thoughts from my Twitter friends:
Oh, right. It’s gone now! (Some people have told me it’s not REALLY gone, but the system is just being overloaded, so it appears that way sometimes. I’m not sure which is correct.)
Did you know that in 2002, a bunch of folks were boycotting Amazon for selling “Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers”? It’s still for sale. I wonder if the people who boycotted are still holding firm.
And guess what you can pre-order now:
And also, if you buy this, are you an arsonist? There IS this disclaimer: “This manual features dozens of dangerous designs, showing the many ways a bomber can combine commonly available materials into lethal packages. For academic study only. “
And here’s another great how-to guide. Anyone want to grow some weed?
You can also learn how to get out of your drunk driving arrest.
Top 10 Things I’ve learned from #AmazonFail:
- It must be truly, seriously EASY to self-publish an eBook and get it listed on Amazon.com.
- People love drama.
- The “problem” may be solved, but there’s still a lot of books out there “supporting” illegal activities, and no one seems to care.
- I don’t much care. If someone writes/sells/buys/reads a book that is creepy, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re participating in illegal, gross, or wrong activities. The people who are suggesting that law enforcers should investigate everyone who buys this book? Well, they’ve got better things to do. Like catching actual pedophiles/murderers/robbers/drunk drivers/rapists/etc, not just people who have disturbing reading/writing habits.
- That was just 4 things.
Are you going to boycott Amazon.com?
If so, you’ll also want to boycott / stop using these Amazon companies:
- Bookpages.co.uk
- IMDb
- Alexa Internet
- Accept.com
- Exchange.com
- CD Now
- Joyo.com
- BookSurge
- MobiPocket.com
- Createspace.com
- Shopbop
- dpreview.com
- Brilliance Audio
- Audible.com
- Fabric.com
- Box Office Mojo
- Abe Books
- Shelfari
- LibraryThing
- Bookfinder.com
- Gojaba.com
- FillZ
- Reflexive Entertainment
- Zappos.com
- Touchco
- Woot.com
- Quidsi
- A9.com
- Endless.com
- Diapers.com
- Soap.com
I’m not boycotting, for the record. I love shopping on Amazon.com – they always seem to have everything I need, and obviously… lots of stuff I don’t want, too. I’ve recently signed up for Amazon Mom, which gives me free 2-day shipping and free returns (free Amazon Prime) for 3 months, which can be extended as I buy things from the baby section of Amazon.
But if you ARE boycotting, are you also going to boycott those 29 other companies? If so, where are you planning on doing most of your online shopping in the future? What, if anything, would cause you to “lift” your boycott status? Will you judge people who still shop at Amazon (like me)? And if you were going to write a controversial eBook to try to get a huge media surge, what would your topic be?
Hi! I'm Emily. I'm a Navy wife and stay at home mom of two beautiful children. I cook simple, delicious, grain-free recipes, do crafts, decorate my home on a budget, and keep a happy household. I tandem breastfeed, babywear, cloth diaper, practice elimination communication, homebirth, and co-sleep, but I'm not a hippie.
Wow. To all those people taking this situation lightly, I take it you don’t have kids? And if you do, I wonder if you would take your words back if your kids were raped as a direct rersult of this book? I’m not wishing that upon anyone, but as a mother of a toddler it makes me absolutely sick that people think it’s not a big deal for amazon to be selling books on how to rape little kids, and ways to get away with it too. I hope the author and all those who buy it seriously get whats coming to them, aswell as all similar books.
And yes, I WILL be boycotting.
My husband and I think this is ploy to get a “list” of potential phedophiles. By selling this book, anyone who buys it will be black listed as a child molester and then when they are searchign for someone in an area, all they have to do is look at the list to get an idea. A crazy idea, I know, but it would also not be soo far out there!
I think I might love you for writing this!
OMG at the comments you’re getting.
This sums it up for me: “it’s child molestation that is illegal, not writing about the subject”. End. Of. Story.
So yeah, it’s not illegal to write it, but do you want your creepy neighbor guy who has always had a “thing” for little kids, to read this book which explains exactly how to lure children in, how to “train” them to obey his every command and what type of item he can use in place of a condom on your son who is under 13 to READ it and suddenly feel empowered??? He’s got all the tips he needs now! He just KNOWS he won’t get caught! And now he has tips that if he DOES get caught, he can get a lighter sentence. REALLY??? You’re ok with that? Well, as a mom of 3 boys, i don’t want pedophiles to feel anymore empowerment than they already do, and if they’ve been in the closet, I want them to stay there, not come out of it because they have a guidebook now. It’s not illegal to write about it. But Amazon doesn’t have to SELL a how-to guide book on how to rape little kids. That’s just WRONG.
If they want the info they will get it, they are already sick anyway.
As for you 13 year, I would hope as parent you do a much better job keeping an eye on what they are doing on the internet.
Free of Speech is Freedom of Speech! Its doesn’t matter how much you hate, let’s say…the KKK….they have every right to publish, talk and protest they way they want. Its the same reason that we have the right to say, write and believe what we want.
Its our responsibility as parents to protect our kids the best we can.
I left out a comma in my reply, i’m not worried about my kids reading it… i’m worried about the creepy guy reading about how to do all these things. And you’re missing my WHOLE POINT… I’m not debating whether it’s against freedom of speech… I’m saying that amazon shouldn’t sell it. They don’t have to worry about censorship… they’re amazon, not the government. I do what I need to to protect my children… but the point of this “guide” is to teach pedophiles how to lure children in.. which means getting around the parents. I think that by amazon selling it, they are supporting it. And in their own policy, it states that material is prohibited if it might lead to an illegal item or activity. I’m pretty sure a guidebook on how to rape children might incite an illegal activity.
First, on the “free speech” thing: if you define “free speech” as “any jerk can say anything he wants regardless of what harm it may inflict on others” (as opposed to “the government can’t come after you for expressing your opinion”) then yes, the pedophile who wrote this book as a right to write it. BUT OH LOOK! I also have a right to speak out against it. AND LOOK! You have a right to disagree with me and express that opinion. So, really, the “free speech” (excuse for an) argument is silly, and whenever someone brings it up in these conversations it makes me laugh because it usually gets presented like this: “Hey! He has a right to free speech, so SHUT UP!” Er… yeah.
Now, regarding the “it’s a joke” suggestion: I sure hope it isn’t, because if this book were a joke that would be even more disgusting and disturbing than if it were real (which it is, unless this is an extremely elaborate “joke”/hoax).
The pedophile who wrote this book is mentally ill. Pedophilia is a mental disorder which makes people think it is acceptable to rape children. While this does not excuse his behavior, he does not know any better.
If someone “of sound mind” decided to write this book as a “joke,” then, seriously, I have no words. Some things are just NOT. FUNNY.
Rape? NOT EFFIN FUNNY.
Raping a child? STILL NOT FUNNY YOU EFFING A–HOLE.
OK, on to the Amazon issue: Yes, it is very easy to get a self-pubbed book on Amazon, as someone else mentioned. I know LuLu.com offered “publicity packages” when you self-pubbed which included listing your book on Amazon, B&N.com, etc. All you have to do is pay the fee.
If Amazon wants to sell these books (the pedophilia ones and the others), then fine. That’s a choice that retailer makes; I, as a consumer, choose to take my money (not that it’s that much, BUT IT’S THE PRINCIPLE OF THE THING) elsewhere. (Has nothing to do with free speech or censorship; it’s just capitalism.)
If Amazon does not want to sell this books, then that’s still a choice the retailer makes. It’s still not censorship, especially when we’re talking about e-books — Amazon is not the government, nor are they the only online retailer. The “authors” can get their own websites and sell their e-books there.
The problem I had with Amazon is how they handled this issue. Same problem I had during the first #amazonFAIL, the LGB debacle Marcy described below (#10). Of course, I’ve been avoiding Amazon since that incident, so this one doesn’t change things for me.
I am grateful for the list of other businesses owned by Amazon, so I can avoid those as well. I don’t shop at any of them, except for Diapers.com — I just placed my first order last week, and was very happy with their prices and their free two-day shipping. But I bought cloth diapers, and the few times I’ll need the disposable refills for the gDiapers I can get those at the store where hubby works (they’re about a dollar more expensive, but since I’m supporting a company that offers great benefits to its employees, I can handle the extra dollar).
If Amazon wants to sell this book, and all those others, then fine. But own up to it, Amazon, and respond when called out. They never issued a statement, an explanation, or an apology for the LGB issue (which was a SCREW UP on their part which directly hurt their LGB authors as well as hugely offend the LGB community and its allies), and now they just ignored this issue as well, not only ignoring their customers’ questions but also major media outlets’. Why can’t they say something about this? Come out and explain how self-pubbed e-book listings work? Address the questionable subject matter of this particular book? They just pretend it didn’t happen. And that’s the part that offends me.
I have no interest in boycotting Amazon. Go into Barnes and Nobles and there are naked photos of people in the photography section under the notion its art. Come on people. You don’t have to like it, you don’t have to buy it! Its your choice!!! Just like buying McDonald’s for your kids!!! ITS YOUR CHOICE! You don’t have to look at it, use it or believe in it. That’s not what Amazon is asking you to do.
Make the choices for yourself and leave the drama behind!
Makes for a much more peaceful life!
I will be boycotting Amazon and all of their other companies from now on. People are free to write whatever they want, but Amazon did not have to sell it. I am disgusted by them. Promoting illegal acts is horrific in my mind. I also don’t understand how lots of people immediate justify it with ‘freedom of speech’. Again, that just protects the author of the book, not Amazon. And what about the rights of the children who are being raped? What if it was your child? Who is protecting the kids? I will not support any company that believes it is okay to sell books like this. I know that just me boycotting it is not going to make even a tiny dent in their sales. But it makes me sleep better, in the room next to my daughter, knowing that I am doing it.
My husband is a corrections officer who works with pedophiles and other criminals on a daily basis. He knows first hand just how disgusting and vile these people are. We, as a family, will not support a company that supports them.
I know this response is a little all over the place, but I am so disgusted by this whole thing I’m not as concise as I normally am!
I am appalled at amazon’s consistent bad decisions. I think that, until now, I must have been living under a rock because I had not heard about the other books, or I would have terminated my business with amazon and amazon’s companies sooner. I find it interesting that they actually are acting against their own policies, in that they say they won’t sell books that could lead to illegal activities, yet they have several (as you have listed) that are rock solid in that category. I also find it ironic that they are all about free speech, until thousands of comments show up on the book’s review, and are deleted by amazon. So… does that mean only the pedophile author gets the free speech right, and not those who are offended by what he has to say? I saw an excerpt from the book on a couple of sites… it discusses ideas of things to use in place of a condom, since condoms are not made to fit small boys. Matter of fact, the finger coits it suggests, the author states are perfect for boys under 13. Seriously???? And amazon is worried about not providing material that a customer may be looking for? After the RapeLay video game that they were selling last year (in which the protagonist stalks and RAPES a mother and her daughters), and the immoral and offensive trash they are trying to sell now (the pedophile guide and the man/boy love book, not to mention how to smuggle cocaine, grow weed, and make pipe bombs), I am DONE with amazon. I am boycotting all of their companies, and will go directly to the retailers from now on. I’m willing to pay for shipping to avoid supporting their filth.
Oh, I forgot to mention my new book’s subject… “Parent’s Guide : How to Kill a Pedophile and Make It Hurt Like Hell”. Find it on Amazon soon!
Quite frankly, I find that there are more important things to boycott over. How about Nestle, for their unethical ways of promoting formula in third-world countries? That’s a pretty “popular” boycott (one that I don’t participate in because honestly, I’m too broke). Or what about boycotting Walmart for the way they treat their employees, considering that is a real, existing problem that isn’t getting better? Just some examples.
One of my problems with Amazon is the way they handled this whole thing (along with the LGB fiasco of last year, when they “accidentally” tagged all books written by or dealing with homosexuals as porn, removing them from book rankings and effectively burrying them in the site… when searching, all you could find were books on “curing” homosexuality). In neither case have they come out and made *any* public statement whatsoever, apparently hoping people would just forget and move on. That… bothers me.
That author has the right to write whatever he wants. However Amazon has a set of Content Guidelines that THEY THEMSELVES wrote, wherein they state that they can refuse to sell a book due to “offensive content” (as determined by themselves) and also ” any Titles which may lead to the production of an illegal item or illegal activity.” (http://forums.digitaltextplatform.com/dtpforums/entry.jspa?externalID=122&categoryID=27)
Therefore, they are violating THEIR OWN TERMS in selling this book, and some of the books you listed above.
So, they are a) violating their own guidelines, and b) refusing to even acknowledge any of this. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth, honestly. It’s bad PR, it’s bad customer service, and it’s bad sense. I might be a little more ok with them IF they didn’t have those guidelines AND they had come out with a public statement about why they want to continue selling them book. But to send out form letters in response to inquiries, then quietly remove the book while no one’s looking… again, it just seems a crappy way to handle things.
I believe we all have our rights to our opinions… after all it is America. With that said though, seeing how something like this is taken lightly by some, shows how low we as Americans have come in our morals.
No, we can’t stop everything/boycott everything, but seeing something wrong and doing NOTHING about it is just as wrong as committing the crime in my opinion. Yes I realize MANY won’t agree with that and that may seem pretty bold of a statement, but we need to stand up for those who are too helpless (young children) to stand up for themselves.
We can’t allow ourselves to “accept” it and go on in our care free bubbles… we are created to do more than that.
Great, great post! Thanks for all your research (on a glass of wine, at that!). I wholeheartedly agree with you. Anytime I see something like this on FB or wherever, I tend to ignore it, because I don’t want to bring people’s attention to the offensive book, and also because if I boycotted every company that sells something that I think is offensive, then I wouldn’t be doing a whole lot of shopping. I choose rather to not buy said offensive things as a better way of letting my voice be heard.
As a librarian, I just roll my eyes when this sort of thing comes up. Freedom of speech (and expression) isn’t an “only when it’s convenient to me or coincides with my beliefs” kind of thing. It’s a universal human right adopted by the United Nations in 1948:
“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
Like you pointed out, there are plenty of books on Amazon that are controversial, like the Anarchist Cookbook, but only when the internet gets their collective panties in a bunch do we hear about it.
It wouldn’t surprise me if this is a 4Chan prank, this is right up their alley.
And the boycott makes me laugh. It’s funny how quick people will forget their objections when it comes to their wallets.
kristen j –
Spot on.
Freedom of speech (and expression) isn’t an “only when it’s convenient to me or coincides with my beliefs” kind of thing.
This is the very thing that no one finds relevant or applicable.
If we knew 10 percent of the objectionable things going on with any and all of the companies we buy from would things change? Again – the wallets will talk, but not many others.
It’s exhausting to think about, but I wish I, personally, would do more.
#personalfail
RIGHT ON!!!!
I saw this yesterday on Facebook. While I obviously think it’s sick and perverse, the author is free to write anything he wants. Of course, Amazon doesn’t have to sell it, but I am not boycotting. Other stores sell items that I find offensive, or have business practices that I don’t like, but I cannot boycott them all. Like you said, Amazon has a good selection and good prices, and as much as I hate to admit it, money is definitely an issue for me. I have to look at price, and that usually (but not always) means I will buy from the big box store or site, even if I don’t like everything they stand for.
I just wanted to comment on your #1 item under Top 10 Things I’ve learned from #AmazonFail. Yes. It is very very easy to publish an ebook on amazon. My boyfriend has written 6 ebooks in the past year and uploaded to amazon. They really couldn’t make it any easier. And since they only print books when they are ordered, there is very little upfront cost involved. I think like $39 is all you have to shell out. I think as the service becomes more know, we will see an increase in weird/inappropriate/offense books.
There are all kinds of books about questionable behaviour. But when the behaviour involves destroying children it crosses the line.
I am waiting to see what today brings before I decide on a boycott. I’m curious about what titles might be for sale at other self published ebook collections.
I am boycotting amazon till the book is down for good and might consider longer like till all books that advocate child rape are removed. I need to do more research before I know for sure. I’m also boycotting the other 29 companies. It won’t be that hard for me since my family tries to buy local as much as possible. The only one that willbe hard for me is diapers.com since they are the new shipper for gdiapers. so yeah I need to research and think about it more but I don’t think bad of anyone’s choice not to boycott.
Perfect bookgroup idea! Lots of discussion.
While I found this “book” offensive, I have to wonder, did we make mountain out of a molehill? Did we just play into the hand of the author who wanted some cheap publicity and quick cash?
Yes, yes we did.
Funny how easily the American public will play right into the hands of someone, isn’t it?