Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Boom in self-published porn: How amateur pornographers are sharing X-rated material on Amazon

Boom in self-published porn: How amateur pornographers are sharing X-rated material on Amazon

By Lucy Waterlow

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Self-publishing has helped writers like EL James become bestselling authors by getting their work to the masses without the need of a book agent or publisher.

But it's no longer just writers keen to get noticed that are making the most of self-publishing systems available on websites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Wannabe porn stars and amateur adult film photographers are using the system to self-publish their own salacious material.

Easy access: E-readers like Amazon's Kindle allow users to download erotic content discreetly while the self-publishing system means anyone can share their work

Easy access: E-readers like Amazon's Kindle allow users to download erotic content discreetly while the self-publishing system means anyone can share their work

E-books akin to a pornographic magazines, complete with colour pictures, can be downloaded for as little as 77p.

Despite Amazon having a policy on not 'accepting pornography or offensive depictions of graphic sexual acts', there are currently numerous titles for sale on the website that break this rule.

Just some of the e-books available with pictures of naked women include 'The Dirty Blonde', 'Topless!' and '40 and Still Foxy'. Some of the pornographic titles have been uploaded by individuals sharing their home-captured pictures while others come from those like 'Camera Erotica' who seem to have made a business out of self-publishing porn.

In a move that will shock many parents concerned about the easy access their children have to online porn, many of the saucy e-books have a 'click to look inside' function, so people can view the adult-only content for free.

According to Amazon's content guidelines, they do not accept pornography and what they deem as offensive is 'probably about what y ou would expect.'

Self-published porn: There are a number of pornographic ebooks currently available on Amazon despite their policy on not accepting such material

Self-published porn: There are a number of pornographic ebooks currently available on Amazon despite their policy on not accepting such material

The company do have a filtering system whereby they use proprietary software to check for content and copyright issues when e-books are submitted. They also respond to complaints flagged up by readers and remove content that is deemed offensive.

Worrying for parents: Some of the books have a 'click to look inside' feature so children could easily view the content

Worrying for parents: Some of the books have a 'click to look inside' feature so children could easily view the content

'We have processes and systems - both automated and manual - to detect and remove books that do not adhere to our posted Content Guidelines,' Amazon said in a written statement to technology website CNET (they have yet to reply with a comment following requests from MailOnline).

The statement added that Amazon has 'rejected or removed thousands of such offending titles' and that it expects to 'keep improving our approach. We are also continuously improving the customer experience for all the content we do sell.'

In the meantime, amateur pornographers are making the most of being able to upload their work to be published within a day and profit from the royalties.

It isn't just happening at Amazon, Barnes & Noble's PubIt! system has also become rife with self-published porn. A simple search for 'adult picture books' bring up a number of titles such as 'Ann Wild Gets Naked' with pictures of naked women posing and performing sex acts. 

These are all readily available to preview and buy despite Barnes & Noble's terms of use stating that 'obscene or pornographic material' is not allowed and this is defined as including 'content that graphically portrays sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction'.

They state that content like this is under 'Barnes & ; Noble's sole and unfettered discretion' and can 'result in the removal of said content and/or termination of your account.'

Barnes & Noble have yet to return the MailOnline's requests for a comment.

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