... Amazon Backing Down? 'Pedophile Guide' Listing Unavailable After Outrage.
Judging by the brief quote from the book, the author appears to be a borderline illiterate, or at least orthographically challenged. Should such a book be banned? I don't suppose we'd want a how-to for suicide bombers easily available. In both cases, though, police might find the books useful to look at. Of course, if Amazon chooses not to sell the book, that is not censorship. Amazon isn't obliged to sell anything it doesn't want to.
What, dear readers, are your thoughts on this?
Well if I were Amazon I'd take it down! If someone does not like "censorship" they can always host the "censored" item on their own website and take the consequences directly.
ReplyDeleteDear Frank,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the matter of censorship--there are so many things that are not. Strictly speaking, if the government prevented Amazon from selling this, it would be censorship--it would seem to me any individual should have the right to sell or not to sell whatever there is that is legal to sell.
shalom,
Steven
Like you, Maxine, if I were the bookseller, I would choose not to sell it.
ReplyDeleteNO bookseller is required to sell anything they don't want to sell.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, there is so much that they DO sell that I don't want to buy.
I don't use Amazon because I regard them as the largest chain bookstore imaginable, plus they've messed up my orders more often than not, and everything they might sell that I might want I can either buy directly from the publisher or from another, more reliable source, which often is an independent bookstore. i'd rather give my cash to independent bookstores on principal, anyway.
So the buyer's freedom of choice is also an issue. In the megastore chains, your choice is often extremely limited. I rarely find things I want to read there, short of special orders out of the catalog. Even Border's, which I usually find to be better than the other chains for my needs, doesn't carry everything I want. I end up special ordering anyway, or contacting the publisher directly, or going back to the independent bookstore. Many of the best of these are in towns with universities or colleges. Where people WANT to read more than bestsellers.
The lack of availability in the usual sources IS a form of censorship, if you do in fact believe in the free and open exchange of ideas, even those you don't agree with. The worst form of censorship is when people start censoring themselves because they're either afraid to buy, or sell, or been seen to be in possession of something that someone else doesn't like. Amazon's actions here are typical of them; they have also been proven to have a bad track record in de facto censoring gay and lesbian literature. There was a big scandal about that just a few months ago, which I guess everyone has forgotten about.
There a lot of books and magazines the general public might not LIKE, but they're not illegal to sell. You see this a lot at LGBT bookstores, for example, where you find things unavailable anywhere else. If Amazon really wants to serve as a bookstore for all people, then they need to walk their talk, and not be cowardly about backing away from even questionable material.
But of course Amazon has never really walked their talk, nor do I expect them to. Which is another reason I don't shop there anymore.
There is the problem also that none of us has seen the book (though that quote from it does remind one of the sort of thing one used to buy under the table wrapped in plain brown paper -- ah, those were the days).
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, the book will find its customers, we can all be sure of that, whether or not Amazon sells it. (BTW, Art, I have had no problems ever with Amazon. But you sure are right about the chain bookstores.)
Good point, Frank. Not likely to see the inside of the book, either, or want to, although it doesn't sound too impressive. LOL
ReplyDelete