Re: "Steal Back This E-Book!" - Amazon Channels Big Brother

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Richard Bennett <richard () bennett com>
Date: July 17, 2009 7:03:35 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] "Steal Back This E-Book!" - Amazon Channels Big  
Brother

It's a real knee-slapper that the affected books were "1984" and  
"Animal Farm," but it's not really the end of the world: they also  
refunded the money that their customers paid for the books, so the net  
effect of the transaction is basically nothing, other than the PR  
embarrassment to Amazon. As more tangible goods move to digital  
distribution, the IQ of the corporate managers at the companies  
holding the copyrights will become apparent, so I look forward to more  
free amusements like this one. The record companies that licensed  
their songs to Apple for a cut of 99 cents per track are apparently  
also regretting their decision to settle for so little, which just  
goes to show you that greed is as predictable as death and taxes.

Richard Bennett

David Farber wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> Date: July 17, 2009 6:18:43 PM EDT
> To: dave () farber net
> Subject: "Steal Back This E-Book!" - Amazon Channels Big Brother
>
>
>
>        "Steal Back This E-Book!" - Amazon Channels Big Brother
>
>             http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000597.html
>
>
> Greetings.  In a turn of events so ironic that even the seediest
> Hollywood porn producer would have rejected the plot as ridiculously
> unrealistic, Amazon.com has demonstrated that the worlds of electronic
> vs. paper books are universes apart, and in one fell swoop magnified
> the worst fears of e-book detractors around the world.
[trimmed per the Vixie rule.]

--
Richard Bennett
Research Fellow
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation
Washington, DC





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