According to that CNN article, part of Amazon's guidelines for what is not allowed say:
Quote:
Originally Posted by CNN
Pornography, offensive material and "titles which may lead to... illegal activity" are among the prohibited content listed in the guidelines.
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I don't see how this falls out of that category. I would say it qualifies as both offensive (to the large majority) and potentially leading to illegal activity. That being said, with the vast amount of books out there that tell you how to make a bomb or kill someone, I don't see the latter argument holding any water.
The point of the first amendment was to provide everyone with protection to do whatever they want as long as it doesn't infringe on that same right of someone else, as well as the law (provided the law is constitutional).
Someone buying the book, or Amazon selling it, isn't what I see as wrong, but if something happened as a result of someone owning the book I believe the author should be held responsible like in that case with the book "Hit Man". If you're going to instruct someone how to do something and publish it for anyone to obtain, you should be responsible for the repercussions of that decision. People are held responsible for yelling FIRE in a crowded area if anyone is injured, I see it as the same issue.