[LINK] E-book wars start...

[Richard Chirgwin]

Thanks, Jan.

I'd be interested to know the ins and outs of retail price fixing in 
Australian competition law ...

RC

Jan Whitaker wrote:
> At 08:13 AM 31/01/2010, Richard Chirgwin wrote:
>
>   
>> http://venturebeat.com/2010/01/29/macmillan-amazon-ipad/
>>
>>     
>>> Go to Amazon.com. Search for any publication by Macmillan, one of the
>>> world's largest publishing firms. The Prince of Silicon Valley,
>>>       
>>  ...snip...
>>     
>
> Update: <http://venturebeat.com/2010/01/30/amazon-macmillan/>Amazon 
> temporarily removed Macmillan titles as a result of an e-book pricing 
> dispute, according to The New York Times.
>
>
> Now 
> <http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/amazon-pulls-macmillan-books-over-e-book-price-disagreement/>The 
> New York Times has an explanation. Citing an anonymous source "in the 
> industry with knowledge of the dispute," The Times said the removal 
> was caused by a disagreement between Macmillan and Amazon over the 
> pricing of e-books on the Kindle. Amazon insists that publishers 
> charge $9.99 for most e-books, while Macmillan wanted to raise the 
> price to $15. So the online retailer is "expressing its strong 
> disagreement by temporarily removing Macmillan books."
>
> Meanwhile, Apple is allowing publishers to set the prices they want 
> on the iPad's iBookstore. The Wall Street Journal actually 
> <http://venturebeat.com/2010/01/29/steve-jobs-offstage-nerdier-more-defensive-video/>pressed 
> Apple chief executive Steve Jobs on this issue at the iPad launch 
> event, asking why someone would buy a $15 e-book from Apple when they 
> could get the same book from Amazon for $9.99.
>
> "The prices will be the same," Jobs said, implying that Amazon will 
> eventually be forced to adopt more flexible pricing models. If The 
> Times is correct, Macmillan's removal could signal the next stage in 
> that battle.
>
> Amazon and Macmillan still haven't responded to emails asking for an 
> explanation.
>
>
>
> Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
> jwhit at janwhitaker.com
> blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
> business: http://www.janwhitaker.com
>
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