Amazon.com book defending pedophelia sparks boycott call

Originally posted by PsykoOps
Technically that's not censorship. They bought the books and paid for them. If they choose to burn them after that they're free to do so. It would be censorship if they would stop the book from being published or would siege the copies without paying for them.

Read my previous post please:

...

What if the government doesn't create laws to destroy freedom of speech, but rather use its powers to destroy freedom of speech?

....

The government using its power to ban freedom of speech, is the same as the government using a law to ban freedom of speech. The result actually matters

The US government has done both, hence, the US government has created laws which ban freedom of speech for example the Al-Awlaki case, where he is to be either captured or killed, and have used its power to ban freedom of speech, for example pressuring Youtube to stop broadcasting Al-Awlaki speeches etc..

reply to post by PsykoOps


I never even considered that side of it. He'll sell a lot more than he might have otherwise, and with no publisher it's almost total profit plus awareness to his cause. Clever.

Originally posted by PsykoOps
They bought the books and paid for them. If they choose to burn them after that they're free to do so. It would be censorship if they would stop the book from being published or would siege the copies without paying for them.

Right. But if the book was actually published through Amazon (through its publishing arm, CreateSpace), then the books are printed per-order, there is no stock to seize. In order to censor a book published through Amazon, the government would actually have to order Amazon to take the book down and discontinue sales, which is a pretty drastic move that invites all kinds of litigation.

Easier for the government not to get involved and just allow the outraged public to vent their passions on Amazon and the author.

However, this is the BEST free advertising for which the author could hope. If he (or she) was simply writing the book to make a monetary profit, then he (or she) is succeeding mightily — this kind of controversy gives exposure that money can't buy.

— Zesko Whirligan

Originally posted by NoArmsJames
reply to post by oozyism

 

Nice try buddy. Stay on topic.

Show me where the government has censored the book cited in the OP.

We have already talked about this book, I never said the government has done anything to stop this book from getting published, I clearly said even in my previous post that the loud mouths have stopped this book from getting published.

Since we are talking about freedom of speech, I brought you other examples where the government have clearly used its power + created laws to stop freedom of speech.

I have laid my conclusion regarding this event as freedom of loudest speech, or freedom of fittest speech (where the fittest is not regarding the speech, fittest regarding power and wealth). Hence the wealthy and power, the wealthy or powerful can easily ban the speech of the poor and weak, the poor or weak.

The above being said, I haven't found any solution to the problem.

If you don't think this is off topic, me and you should discuss to find a solution.

Originally posted by NoArmsJames
reply to post by v3_exceed

 

Guess what guy, we live in a very imperfect world and we are a very imperfect species. At least in this situation the author hasn't been truly silenced.

This is one area where we can agree. We are an imperfect species, and we will make mistakes. We also have the ability to learn from these mistakes. This ability to learn is our greatest strength. That so many of us choose not to learn from the past is still one of our greatest weaknesses.

Of all the the books ever published, there are two that truly deserve being banned. They have caused more wars, more death and more oppression than any other series of books put together. They are the Bible and the Koran. Funny how many of these posters asking that this other book be banned would take as much offense to banning the books I have suggested.

..Ex

Originally posted by argentus

Amazon.com book defending pedophelia sparks boycott call

news.blogs.cnn.com

An e-book for sale on Amazon.com that appears to defend pedophilia has sparked hundreds of angry user comments and calls for a boycott of the online retailer unless it pulls the title.

The author of "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child-Lover's Code of Conduct" described the self-published title as "my attempt to make pedophile situations safer for those juveniles that find themselves involved in them, by establishing certian [sic] rules for these adults to follow,"

(visit the link for the full news article)

SICK, that is all I can say. No not really, investigate them at the very least. That should not even
be published, who would want to read something like that, Pedophiles? Unless it is a trap to catch
them as they purchase the books? Seems like a catch 22 eh? On the one hand freedom of speech,
on the other sickos perverting the U.S.A.'s freedom of speech rights. I say it seems like some sickos
getting off on both.

Originally posted by NoArmsJames
reply to post by PsykoOps

 

with no publisher it's almost total profit plus awareness to his cause. Clever.

Well, Amazon is taking over 65% cut of the author's income. He's probably making $2 to $4 per copy, while Amazon takes the rest. Publishers take a big bite, for a reason. They're assuming the risk of publishing and distributing your book. That's the same with any publisher, except that Amazon doesn't market the thing for you or protect your intellectual property abroad, as a big publisher would.

— Zesko Whirligan

This is a tough one. I am against the banning of any book ever, even if I am opposed to the content. Do I think Amazon should sell it? Not really.

reply to post by oozyism


I think it's off topic for this thread specifically but perfect for ATS.
I get passionate about things but let me clarify that I understood and agree with the larger points you were making, just not necesarily in regards to this thread. As I said earlier in this thread:

we live in a very imperfect world and we are a very imperfect species. If you give a government unlimited power that government is going to decide what you can and can't read. If you limit that governments power than you're going to have the majority of people (mob rule) decide the same. There is no utopia where this doesn't happen.

I'd love to find a solution too, and be happy to discuss it with you and everyone else. I just don't want the mods deleting everything we've said for being "off topic". Start the thread though and I'll be there!

I just went to Amazon and searched the book and it seems to be in suspended animation at present. "No pricing information available" is the legend beneath the Kindle version of the book. I could find no paperback or hardcover.
Looks like a nice cover, nothing amateur about it, so the author knows his stuff, I'm sure, as a vanity-publisher.

But I noticed that the book is getting a one-star rating, although it's been rated over 3000 times.

Odd. Don't you have to BUY a book to rate it on Amazon? I believe that's how it works. That's how it worked with my book, and I'm assuming the same policy applies.

So, it's been purchased over 3000 times by...? Who gave it a one-star rating. I'm guessing that if a church group or somebody stupidly tried to buy out the stock in order to burn it, they just pumped about $12,000 into the author's pocket for the month of October alone.

Aint Capitalism grand?

— Zesko Whirligan

reply to post by Zesko Whirligan


It has been pullede from a vendor, that is NOT CENSORSHIP, that is not BOOK BANNING, it is called good business.

Write all the pedo fantasy you want. To disallow the writing in the first place is censorship.

I am sure this clever fellow who admitted he "could have" molested will find a vendor in due time for his trash.

Amazon has pulled the book, YES I can shop there again!

Look, I called them this morning to conform yes they pulled this book. I read the sample they sent my kindle, I excerpted it by hand in my thread.

Banning a book would be not allowing it anywhere. He retains all his rights, and good luck Greaves pushing your pedo fantasy elsewhere. Try WalMart.

reply to post by argentus


I think this is great.

It will finally force people to decide,

where does freedom of speech end
and "you are a detriment to society" begin?

Originally posted by Zesko Whirligan
Odd. Don't you have to BUY a book to rate it on Amazon? I believe that's how it works. That's how it worked with my book, and I'm assuming the same policy applies.

So, it's been purchased over 3000 times by...?

No, I don't think you need to buy a book at amazon to rate it.
I haven't gone there to look at the reviews, but say you already own a book and decided to let others know about the title, you'd just submit the review.
I think the only criteria is an Amazon account. I can imagine those reviews were quite bizarro.

well.. as on topic as I can get.. I think is that who ever got amazon to take that book down.. or group may have done more harm than good.. good job! children are more in harm now than before.. now that it is off the site.. it it get taken up on another site that offers it for free or refuses to give up their lists because they don't have an office in the states.. now its just that much harder to catch them. more harm than good.. I'd say what I really feel here but I don't want another warn lol... while I don't think the book was that good it was still his right to publish it. at least with a company like amazon which would turn over info on who buys it. it wouldn't have been that bad.. now they have no way to track it if it goes underground.. my .02 cents

P.S I love you don't tread on me!

That is good news indeed

I pose a question to the members that agreed with it in the first place; If you had children, and find out they were molested because someone had gone out and read this book, would you still have the same opinion?
I understand that it's not going to take a book to make someone who is already a pedophile do this, but what if they had never acted on urges and this book made them feel it was ok because they could somehow get out of it?

I agree with the fact that, yes people have their first amendment rights, but when it's promoting something so obviously morally wrong, it's not ok.

No one is censoring him, he self published, and the author's rights have NOT been stomped.

Amazon just made a business decision. It does not equal censorship!

Originally posted by PsykoOps
Just to clarify being a pedofile is not a crime. You make it sound like it is.

What's a "pedofile"? Is that a newly created file? When is a file no longer considered young? 10 minutes? 2 hours?

Click here for more information.