Historical Fiction Online

[quote=""LoveHistory""]Amazon is not a government entity, therefore they may censor whatever they like. They are not required to carry specific products. They do not need to censor something to refuse to sell it. There is a difference between the two.[/quote]

That's quite true. And yes, as MLE says, I think they should show more social responsibility. Every company has to make money to stay in business, but I think it's not too much to ask businesses to have some kind of ethical code of conduct.

Woolworth's (RIP) had to withdraw a set of children's bedroom furniture named Lolita and a pole dancing kit sold in the children's toys section after customers complained. Mumsnet has an ongoing campaign to remove inappropriate products aimed at preteen girls (padded bras, high heeled shoes, etc) from the shelves. I'm all for consumers banding together against objectionable products since retailers seem happy to sell anything. I don't see books as being a separate issue.

[quote=""MLE""]Sometimes I think people have become so knee-jerk anti-censorship that they have lost any sense of proportion. The problem of being so open-minded that your brains fall out.[/quote]

LOL! That just sums up my feelings on it so perfectly! Some people are so pro "free speech" that they seem to lose all sense of reason. I think anyone who feels their freedom of speech is threatened because a book retailer pulled a how-to guide on pedophilia is being a little bit paranoid.

It reminds me of a quote I once read: "People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought, which they seldom use".

There's a good reason why the pedophile book was self-published. I'm sure no respectable firm would touch it (and they are the first line of defence in deciding which topics are indecent or inappropriate for publication).
Seems to me that Amazon needs to take on this responsibility themselves if they are going to make such material available to the general public.