Apple Accused Of Censorship After (Terrible) Erotic Novel Pulled From Bestselling iBook Spot

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According to the Daily Mail, Monday’s best-selling ebook was Blonde and Wet: The Complete Story on the UK iBookstore.

It wasn’t exactly an exposè about gossamer-haired scuba divers: it was an erotic novel, one of two by author Carl East that populated the top ten list of downloadable iBooks. Another collection called Six Sexy Stories by Ginger Starr came in at number five.

Yesterday, the list was very different, with all of yesterday’s erotica suddenly missing. In fact, according to the Daily Mail, all of the erotic books were was yanked simultaneously overnight, making it unlikely that they had naturally fallen off the list.

The Daily Mail claims censorship. I’m not so sure. Everything about this story seems pretty fishy. I certainly would never underestimate either the public’s capacity for pornographic consumption or Apple’s own prudery, but these seems like pretty unremarkable and unknown erotic novels to jump so high on the UK iBooks list… even above more accessible titles like Toly K’s The iPad Survival Guide.

In fact, look at Mr. East’s Kindle store ratings: nothing above two stars. His self-published e-books are the very definition of amateurish.

The real question isn’t whether Apple pulled the books, but tow the heck they got to the top of the UK iBookstore rankings to begin with. Are iBooks sales in the UK just that stagnant that a couple of random erotica enthusiasts can propel a title to the number one spot, or — more likely — was this all just some kind of glitch?

[via Gizmodo]

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