11/11/2010

Amazon pulls pedophile book amid controversy

Yesterday, I posted on my Facebook page about a pedophile guidebook that was available on Amazon.com. In a very smart move the company has now made the item unavailable. As an Amazon customer it makes me feel good to know that they took the complaints seriously and acted on them. My dissatisfaction is that doing so took an email landslide, news and blogging firestorm. 

Today, I'm sending another email to Amazon asking them to act quicker when the first complaints trickle in. Much of this might have been prevented if an employee could have removed the pedophile guidebook from Amazon when it first came to light. A temporary hold of several hours would allow for the book to be researched and would possibly not effect sales if the book was found to be legitimate.

As a writer and published author I understand that Amazon wants to make this publishing platform available to everyone. That's not a bad idea. But to me, if a book or e-book gets even one flag it's time to take a took. A few flags and it's time to consider action. If several thousand emails, articles and blog posts are condemning book (like the pedophile guidebook on Amazon). Then it's past time to take action.

Amazon, you're a good company. Please consider tweaking your policies to allow for a quicker response to flagged material.