A listing for 'The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure' is no longer on Amazon.com.
[Updated at 10:52 p.m. ET] The title no longer appears in Kindle's Top 100 Paid Bestsellers.
[Updated at 10:47 p.m. ET] The listing for "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child-Lover's Code of Conduct" is no longer available on Amazon.com. The title still appears in Kindle's Top 100 Paid Bestsellers at number 96, with 2,066 comments.
An e-book for sale on Amazon.com that appears to defend pedophilia has sparked hundreds of angry user comments and threats to boycott the online retailer unless it pulls the title.
Nearly 1,700 users who had commented on the title as of 9:40 p.m. ET deplored its publication and vowed to boycott Amazon until it removes the self-published title from the site. At least two Facebook pages have been set up dedicated to boycotting Amazon because of the book.
The stated content appears to violate two of Amazon's content guidelines for digital publication. The company has not returned CNN's repeated requests for comment.
The author of "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child-Lover's Code of Conduct" said he published the controversial tome to address what he considers unfair portrayals of pedophiles in the media.
"True pedophiles love children and would never hurt them," Phillip R. Greaves II said in a phone interview with CNN on Wednesday.
When asked if the self-published e-book was a "how-to manual," he said, "there are certain parts that are advisory," which set out lines that should not be crossed.
"Penetration is out. You can't do that with a child, but kissing and fondling I don't think is that big of a problem," he said.
The Pueblo, Colorado, man told CNN that he has not had sexual contact with a child as an adult, but did when he was a teenager. He also said he "was introduced to oral sex when I was 7" by an older female but did not provide specifics.
In the title's Amazon.com product description, Greaves described it 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.
"I hope to achieve this by appealing to the better nature of pedosexuals, with hope that their doing so will result in less hatred and perhaps liter [sic] sentences should they ever be caught," he said.
Most users who commented on the title said they deplored its publication and vowed to boycott Amazon until it removes the title.
"It is ILLEGAL to molest children, and for Amazon to promote such is insane. I'm an abuse survivor, and am OUTRAGED Amazon would choose to promote this nonsense. I will not be purchasing anything from your website until this is removed," one user wrote in a comment echoed by others.
Others lamented they could not give the book less than "one star" in submitting their reviews, saying they would shop elsewhere during the holiday season.
"Cannot believe that Amazon is selling this. I was in the middle of placing my whole Christmas shopping order when I saw something about this. After reviewing it, I have canceled my order from Amazon and am encouraging all of my friends not to order from Amazon because they are choosing to sell this book. I will not be purchasing anything from Amazon until they agree to quit selling this book," another user said.
Amazon did not return CNN's requests for comment, but one user posted what it said was Amazon's response to an e-mail the person had sent.
"Let me assure you that Amazon.com does not support or promote hatred or criminal acts; we do support the right of every individual to make their own purchasing decisions."
"Amazon.com believes it is censorship not to sell certain titles because we believe their message is objectionable."
The company's website provides content guidelines for titles sold through its Digital Text Platform Program. The guidelines say publishers are expected to conduct proper research to ensure that titles are in compliance with all local, state, national and international laws.
"If Amazon Digital Services, Inc. determines that the content of a Title is prohibited, we may summarily remove or alter it without returning any fees. Amazon Digital Services, Inc. reserves the right to make judgments about whether or not content is appropriate," the guidelines state.
Pornography, offensive material and "titles which may lead to... illegal activity" are among the prohibited content listed in the guidelines.
What Amazon deems offensive, "is probably about what you would expect" the guidelines state, without elaboration, except to say that, "Amazon Digital Services, Inc. reserves the right to determine the appropriateness of Titles sold on our site."
A few Amazon.com users defended the author's right to free speech, and a discussion on the site titled "Why Amazon is Right" delved into the constitutional implications of the controversy.
"While I think 99.9 percent of us object to pedophilia (even though I think this particular book was a publicity stunt/joke), I think we can all agree that we don't want someone else censoring a subject matter that we may be interested in. Religion, atheism, homosexuality, etc. are some subjects that spring to mind ... and they have been censored in the past until we realized that it's best to let all information in (even if we don't like some of it), rather than allow some authority or individual decide what we can and can't know about based on their own opinions or motivations," one user wrote.
The author has three other titles on Amazon.com under his name. They are available on the e-reader, Kindle, and all were published within the last week.
Greaves described himself as a former nurses' aid and in-home health care provider who is retired and on disability for "manic depression." He said he first began writing as a child and hopes to continue doing so full time.
But conspiracy theories over the book abound, with commenters citing it as a publicity stunt, a hoax, or perhaps a law enforcement sting.
"People... Relax... This book is obviously promoted by Amazon per request of FBI in order to track down and catch pedophiles. This book is obviously a bait for the sickos that are lurking around out there trying to prey on our children."
I am also boycotting Amazon over this lack of common sense,.
No more shopping Amazon for me – ever. Freedom of speech is one thing, child molestation is another – disgusting!
Any idiot who does business with Amazon deserves everything they get, who knows, maybe a little pedophilia for their own!! Sickos..
Oh, how great is this!!! This book will be on the Pope's must read and on the church's best seller list. How great. I can't wait to see who buys this book!
yo Joe and yoda: look up the definition and stop trying to dilute what pedophilia is. you are calloused and ignorant.
Where did I offer a definition in which to dilute?
So Phillip Greaves thinks kissing and fonding a child is OK; just no penetration. I wish we could find a way to lock this guy up before he gives into the penetration. HE IS A SICKO!!! We should ban Amazon as long as this is on there.
I remember a while back a commedian said (I think it was Dennis Miller) that a pedophile that killed himself was 'taking one for the team". Nuff said.
Amazon can do whatever it wants and I can do whatever I want – like calling everyone I know that uses their service and asking them to cease and desists. Too bad. Christmas is coming and everyone I know loves to read.
I believe in Freedom of speech, but no one is censoring anything, amazon choose to excercise thier freedom and publish this trash and consumers have the right (freedom) to stop doing business with them. No one is infringing on anyone's freedom.
I will certainly not be surprised to hear that there will be individuals that have purchased this book that will also have their email or online activites hacked. Probable cause being the book purchase.
Say Buh-Bye Christmas sales, Amazon! Your pin-headed management team should get out in the REAL WORLD. Where molesting children is a crime. If a guide to pedophilia qualifies as free speech, count me out as a customer.
As a girl who was probably touched by two older boys in a shed when she was 5. (Probably–b/c she has no memory of the incident.) A girl who with a few other girls watched an older teenage girl "babysit" by touching herself and instructing us to do the same. I couldn't watch people kiss until I was 20 years old! It made me sick! A girl who when she had a nervous breakdown met a 65 year-old man in church–the 1st time she had tried to go to church in a decade. She was 26 when he gave her a "church hug" with the priest's (Episcopal not Catholic) blessing. She has been begging for death for 5 years now. Hopefully she will be dead soon. To the author: Go back in the shed where you belong.
So long Amazon. I'm dumping you for good. Nothing you can do will bring me back. Ever. Ever.
This isn't even about liberal or conservative. this is about right and wrong. Anyone who thinks that pedophilia is ok is as sick as the pedophile himself. This guy and those like him need to made to feel very unwelcome in this society.