In case you haven't heard, the web has been abuzz these past two weeks with news about an e-book catering to pedophiles. "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child-Lover's Code of Conduct" was removed from Amazon a day after the company had defended its sale of the product, and only weeks after it had been published.

After pulling "The Pedophile's Guide," customers became irate that a similar book from 2000 entitled “Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers” was allowed to remain on the cyber-shelves, and that book, too, was soon pulled. 

Now, if you've ever written an email or letter to Amazon complaining about the content of the book, you know that what you get in return is a form letter basically stating that Amazon does not "condone criminal acts" but "believes everyone has the right to choose" what they read, even if some may find it objectionable. What I'm wondering then, is why did Amazon cave in to pressure this time? The answer, I'm sure, has to do with the number of complaints they received, and their fear of losing cusomer loyalty. And, while I personally do not believe in media censorship, I must admit that certain things make me more than a little uneasy ("The Pedophile's Guide" being one of them). I have the same feelings about computer games in which the object of the game is to rape women--my first reaction is that these games should be banned, but then my logical side kicks in and insists that censorship is never...