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Obama to provide 10,000 free e-books through your library
President Barack Obama announced a new program on Thursday aimed at delivering access for more than 10,000 e-books to financially strapped schoolchildren throughout the United States. The $250 million program will feature titles from numerous publishers including Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins and Hachette, selected by volunteers from Digital Public Library of America. The New York Public Library has signed on to develop the free app. "It's very different than from our generation," Cecilia Muñoz, Obama's domestic policy adviser, told Reuters. "More and more, you're going to be seeing kids using devices, and what we're doing is making sure that there's more books available on those devices." As the president's top economic advisor Jeff Zients pointed out to Reuters, research shows that some 80 percent of low-income children are behind the rest of their grade in terms of reading skills. Few of them have books at home. That's why Obama's program will also work with local libraries, boosting their enrollment of local kids in order to provide them with hardware necessary to enjoy these books. Each age-appropriate title will be made available from the publishers' online libraries, though there's no word on whether the e-title will be given away or simply checked out as traditionally lent books are. Still, any excuse to get kids into the library is a good one. [Image credit: Getty]
Reuters: Apple, Amazon e-book battle in EU nearing a conclusion
Source have told Reuters that EU regulators are going to accept an offer by Apple and four publishers to end antitrust investigations into their e-book pricing schemes. This result essentially cedes a victory to Amazon, which will be able to sell online books for less than its competitors. Apple, Simon & Schuster, Harper Collins, Hachette Livre, and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck apparently made their proposal in September. They'll let retailers set their own prices and/or discounts for two years, and will suspend controversial "most-favored nations" clauses for five years. "Most-favored nations" clauses prevent publishers from making deals with competitors like Amazon to sell e-books for less than what Apple will charge. While the European Commission hasn't publicly commented on the proposed settlement, it's likely to accept the offer and make an announcement in December.
EU regulators to accept Apple and book publishers' offer of cheaper e-books
According to Reuters, EU regulators look likely to accept an offer from Apple and a handful of publishers, including Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette Livre and Macmillan. The assembled publishers propose that they will allow retailers (including Amazon) to sell e-books cheaper than Apple currently does. The move will attempt to end the EU's anti-trust investigation that looked into the publishers' e-book pricing model that unfairly affected retailers' ability to compete with Apple's own electronic book collection.
Google, Association of American Publishers strike deal over book digitization
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) and Google today announced an agreement that marks the end of nearly seven years of litigation, kicked off in 2005, when five members of the organization filed an infringement suit against the online giant. The deal helps bring digitized books and journals to the Google Library Project, giving publishers control over what content will make it into Google's collection. Publishers who opt to keep their book in the online library will get access of the digital copy for their own purposes. As a jointly issued press release notes, the deal, which includes McGraw-Hill, Penguin, Wiley, Pearson Education and Simon & Schuster, does not impact current Authors Guild litigation.
Apple and publishers offer deal to put price fixing scandal behind them in EU
In the US, the e-book price fixing scandal appears to be winding towards its inevitable conclusion. Many of the publishers settled with the DOJ right off the bat, and now the states themselves have gotten three publishing houses to cough up $69 million in their own agreement. (Of course, Apple, Macmillan and Penguin have all decided to go the trial route, but we'll have to wait till next year to see how that plays out.) In Europe, the battle is still raging on, but Reuters is reporting that the accused are offering concessions in a bid to put the antitrust allegations behind them. The only name missing from the list is Penguin, which may or may not be part of the plea deal. Not all the details of the proposals have been revealed yet, and there's no guarantee the commission will accept them. The heart of the settlement, however, would involve allowing Amazon to sell e-books at a discounted price for two years. Would cheaper Kindle books be good, clean fun for the whole family? Sure, but it certainly pales in comparison to the potential penalties if Apple and their publishing partners go to trial.
States reach $69 million settlement with three publishers in e-book price fixing case
When the US Department of Justice sued Apple and five major book publishers over alleged e-book price rigging, it immediately became clear that a few of these companies would do just about anything to avoid trial. That same day, three of the publishers -- HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Hachette -- elected to settle with the DoJ. Now, those same three publishers have reached an agreement in 49 states (all but Minnesota), wherein consumers will receive a combined $69 million in compensation. Specifically, the payout applies to people who bought agency-priced e-books between April 1, 2010 and May 21, 2012. Interestingly, the payout includes folks who bought e-books from Macmillan and Penguin, even though those two publishers aren't settling. As for making sure people get paid, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google, Sony, Apple and Kobo have agreed to identify and contact affected customers. According to ABC News, most of these retailers will give customers the option of receiving a check or a credit toward future purchases. Sony, meanwhile, will automatically issue checks, while Google will direct customers to an online submission form where they can file a claim. Whatever the method, payments are expected to begin 30 days after the settlement is approved. The DoJ settlement, which is separate from the agreement with the 49 states, is still awaiting clearance.
Australia pondering joining e-book lawsuit bandwagon
If Apple and the Big Five thought they only had to contend with a federal e-book lawsuit in the US, they'd better think again. Australia's Competition and Consumer Commission is inviting local businesses to raise formal concerns as it weighs up launching its own judicial broadside against the alleged cartel. The Commission refused to comment publicly on its plans beyond saying that it was "aware of the latest developments" and would listen to local resellers who had concerns about the Australian market. While Simon & Schuster, Hachette and HarperCollins made back-room deals with the DoJ yesterday, they'd still be involved (at least initially) with the second front of this conflict. Meanwhile, the threat remains of the European Union joining in: turning it from a spot of local trouble into a global courtroom battle for the future of e-book pricing.
Justice Department formally charges Apple, big five publishers in e-book price fixing case (update)
The Justice Department has formally decided to sue Apple, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster over alleged e-book price-rigging. Apple and Macmillan have already denied any wrongdoing, saying that the agreements were enhancing competition in an industry previously dominated by Amazon. The case centers around a deal to switch to agency pricing, where the vendor takes a 30 percent cut of each sale rather than the wholesale model which allows stores to sell books at rock-bottom prices. It was previously believed that the publishers had cut back-room deals with the Government agency after bowing to pressure to withdraw Cupertino's "favored nation" status. If successful, the DoJ will allow Amazon and Barnes and Noble amongst others to return to the wholesale model to sell best-sellers at a loss, something that the big five are desperate to avoid, and will look to fight the battle in court. Update: The PDF of the DoJ's filing is now available online -- it makes for fascinating reading. Update 2: Bloomberg is now reporting that Simon & Schuster, Lagardère SCA's Hachette Book Group and HarperCollins have settled with the DoJ over unspecified terms. Hasty!
Justice Department preparing Apple iBooks antitrust lawsuit
The Justice Department is reportedly preparing to go after Apple, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Penguin, Macmillan and HarperCollins following its investigation into alleged e-book price-rigging. The case centers around a deal to switch to agency pricing, where the vendor takes a 30 percent cut of each sale, rather than the wholesale model that gives publishers more flexibility to reduce prices or even sell e-books at a loss. Some publishers are now trying to agree on a new policy in an effort to stave off the kind of federal suit that nobody wants to wear.
Simon & Schuster imposing four-month delay on e-book versions of major upcoming releases
After hardcover and before paperback. In Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy's mind, this is when we as consumers should be expecting the digital copies of our favorite page turners to come out. Putting money where its mouth is, so to speak, the company has announced that for around 35 of its major releases coming early next year, the e-book iterations won't be out until four months after the physical releases. Seeing as hardcovers can debut at $27 while their digital equivalents can run $10 or less, Reidy notes one of the driving motivations behind this move is to curb consumer expectations that a new novel is worth only one Alexander Hamilton. It's a historically valid concern, especially when you consider how iTunes taught us that songs are only worth $1 apiece, but in the long-term, we don't expect this delay-on-digital trend to stay afloat. The e-book business is growing, and that delay is too artificial for its own good -- at some point, the argument's going to have to shift back to day-and-date pricing tiers. We'll be very interested to see just how this paper-borne release gap pans out from a sales standpoint.
