Simpson, who was acquitted of murdering his wife Nicole Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman in 1995, but subsequently found guilty in a civil trial, had been signed up by Harper Collins for the book and Fox for the TV special, which was due to air in the US next week.

An email announcement of the project's cancellation by News Corporation chief Rupert Murdoch (News owns both publishing house and broadcaster) described the concept as "ill-considered".

The news spread like wildfire online, with Google News listing more than 800 stories covering the cancellation.

Community-edited encyclopedia Wikipedia also witnessed the 'Simpson effect'. The Wikipedia entry on the book itself attracted more than 60 edits in the three hours following the announcement, while the entry on Simpson has had to be locked to new users to prevent vandalism.

Bloggers quickly latched onto the new development, with Technorati highlighting more than 300 posts discussing the aborted project. The general consensus seemed to be that Simpson didn't deserve to profit from his association with a murder trial. "What surprises me in all this, is that it took them this long to realize this was a DUMB f--king idea," one blogger wrote.

While that criticism might seem harsh, Simpson's own associates aren't mincing words either. His lawyer Yale Galanter told Newsweek he's "pissed off" Simpson didn't tell him about the project, while an unnamed family friend told the magazine that Simpson viewed the project as "one big f--k you" to people who believe he's guilty of murder.

The controversy certainly didn't seem to have affected advance sales for the book. At Amazon.com, the title was ranked at #32 before it was pulled from sale.

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