Amazon Censoring Kindle Title List

by Charles Platt

After Amazon caved in and removed _The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure_, other titles with erotic content are now being targeted. The currently uncertain situation is summarized here.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 18th, 2010 at 2:51 pm and is filed under First Amendment, obscenity, political correctness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

13 Responses to Amazon Censoring Kindle Title List

  1. Michael Miles says:
    December 18, 2010 at 6:48 pm

    First Amendment, really? Since when is a bookseller not allowed to decide what they sell?

    It seems that pushing this kind of argument is “big government” at its worst. I appreciate advocacy for free speech, but that’s not what is at issue here: if you want these titles on Kindle then do what any customer should, and complain to Amazon (because other customers seem to be complaining more loudly.)

    BTW, I still can’t buy Christopher Lasch’s, “The Culture of Narcissism” on Kindle, should I sue?

    • Charles Platt says:
      December 18, 2010 at 7:11 pm

      I didn’t say this is a first-amendment issue. When I checked the “First Amendment” topic checkbox I was indicating that this news would be of interest to people who are concerned about first amendment issues. Your criticism is perhaps a little more withering than necessary.

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  4. andrews says:
    December 19, 2010 at 2:35 pm

    I am not sure that Amazon should be considered a reliable friend of free speech. Has it been a year yet since they made “1984” disappear from folks’ Swindle e-book readers?

  5. glamoc says:
    December 19, 2010 at 5:03 pm

    Good for Amazon!!!

  6. glamoc says:
    December 19, 2010 at 5:15 pm

    excuse me

  7. glamoc says:
    December 19, 2010 at 5:20 pm

    Excuse me, I drank a good Croatian wine

  8. Justin T. says:
    December 19, 2010 at 5:23 pm

    I wish I could get more upset about Amazon not allowing people to buy a book called “The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure.” I really do.

    • Charles Platt says:
      December 19, 2010 at 5:37 pm

      Personally I dislike barriers to distribution against any book on any topic, ever. Any exception to the rule creates a precedent that I find disturbing.

      • Justin T. says:
        December 19, 2010 at 6:09 pm

        I’ll agree with that, and it certainly is disturbing that Amazon seems to have no consistent policy on what is and isn’t censorable. I just can’t particularly get mad about this particular one.

        Besides, if people want to buy “The Paedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure,” there are plenty of Bibles available for free.

  9. glamoc says:
    December 19, 2010 at 5:27 pm

    It is, finally, my link. I love you.