We here at Optenet PC are not only committed to helping create a healthier Internet experience for all. We want to keep you aware of important related  issues that have a potential significant impact. For those not aware, there was much recent controversy over Amazon’s release of a book entitled, “The pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure”. Let it suffice to say that the small sample of the book’s content made public, was enough to upset anyone.

But because of the disappointing reaction of Amazon to acknowledge their mistake and to recognize the tremendous problem of allowing their global publishing platform to be used this way, it is important that others will bring the issue to light and not allow it to go with the quiet removal of the book from the Amazon virtual shelves. It is not by mistake that Amazon has so far, remained silent since originally defending making the book available.

First of all, this book provides guidance to pedophiles in how to carry out their acts “safely”  - so as not to cause visible harm and to avoid getting caught. Second, when calls to remove the book were first voiced, Amazon’s reaction was to explain that it would be an act of censorship to remove a book because some people find the contents offensive.  But this was not about differing opinions or being offended!  The book teaches how to carry out sexual crimes against children. It is not offensive. It is  criminal and it is wrong. As a civil society, there is some minimal consensus about what is just plain wrong.

Companies should be accountable for what they sell. We expect them to be and they are supposed to be, by law. We don’t need to ask at the supermarket if our food contains poison. We can safely assume they are accountable. A sumermarket can not say – well, it’s up to the consumer to know or choose carefully.

A guide to being a pedophile is not a presenting an alternate world view or opinion. It is helping people commit crimes that have irreversible damage. If this should be allowed, it stands to reason that absolutely anything that someone creates, should be made available by Amazon — if someone decides to use the digital platform to teach how to start their own sex trafficking business, how to sexually abuse the mentally ill — or any other harmful content  –  given this recent decision by Amazon, they seem to be proposing that anything and everything should be available online. Removing anything, no matter what it is, is censorship in the eyes of Amazon executives.

Keep in mind, Amazon, having not issued any apology, has basically admitted that they acted only in response to consumer pressure – the threat of a boycott. In other words, their decision was based on profits, not on morals. Our fear is two-fold. First, having offered this book and defending the right for the book to be made available lends legitimacy to pedophiles, many of whom to think they are living an “alternative lifestyle” and not committing a crime. And second, on a macro level,  we fear that this is an indication that rather than the Internet becoming a safer place as awareness grows about the problems of exposure to violent and inappropriate content, the Internet is headed to become an even more dangerous place, with legitimate companies making available the most awful of content online. Imagine the day when people are searching Amazon for guides on “How to Rape” and “How to Get the Unpopular Kid to Kill Himself”. It might be just around the corner.