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‘eBook’ Stories

Apple likely to lose ebook price-fix case hints judge before trial even starts

, May 24th 2013 Discuss [0]

Apple is unlikely to be able to counter evidence that it conspired with publishers to inflate ebook prices, the federal judge overseeing the case has said in a surprise pre-trial comment, though the Cupertino firm vehemently disagrees. The case, set to be heard from June 3, sees the US Justice Department allege Apple along with five big name publishers aimed to raise the price of ebooks for the launch of iBooks. Apple is the final hold-out, after the publishers settled with the DoJ, but according to US District Judge Denise Cote, Reuters reports, the evidence prepared seems sufficiently damning. Read The Full Story

Kindle Worlds tries to make fan-fiction pay

, May 22nd 2013 Discuss [0]

Amazon has launched Kindle Worlds, its latest publishing push, and aiming to commercialize fan-fiction - just as long as the original creators approve. The new division of Amazon Publishing has inked a deal with Warner Bros. to give fanfic authors using characters from Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, or Vampire Diaries permission to sell their titles to Kindle readers, with everyone getting a cut of the purchase price. Read The Full Story

Samsung files for ebook page turning patent

, May 1st 2013 Discuss [0]

Samsung has filed for a patent on paging turning in ebooks, specifically on those fancy page curling/rolling effects that aim to give digital paper a realistic feel. The filing appeared at the US Patent and Trademark Office last week, and reveals a decidedly involved and thought-driven look at the art of turning digital pages. You can check out a diagram of the page-turning after the jump. Read The Full Story

Penguin to terminate Apple e-book deal to settle EU antitrust case

, Apr 21st 2013 Discuss [0]

Penguin, the last of five publishers, including Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and Macmillan, has offered to terminate its e-book deal with Apple in order to settle with EU antitrust regulators. The e-book agreements forbade other retailers from selling the e-books from these publishers at lower prices than Apple's iBookstore. Read The Full Story

Waterstones founder to launch Spotify-like service for books in 2013

, Apr 11th 2013 Discuss [0]

Tim Waterstone is the founder of Waterstones, a retailer of print books and other items in the UK. Waterstone is looking to launch a new digital book business that hopes to become something akin to music service Spotify only for books. The project is called Read Petite. Read The Full Story

Bill could require colleges to give credit for 3rd party online courses

, Mar 13th 2013 Discuss [0]

Darrell Steinberg, California Senate President pro Tem, has introduced a bill that would require public colleges and universities in California to give credit for online courses taken at 3rd party providers. Steinberg stated that the bill would ensure that California students will not "be denied the right to move through their education because they couldn't get a seat in the course they needed." Read The Full Story

Government orders Tim Cook to testify in price-fixing lawsuit

, Mar 13th 2013 Discuss [0]

Apple CEO Tim Cook will be required to testify for 4 hours on the eBook price-fixing scandal the company was accused of. Apple is the last company, out of 6, to be testifying in this case. The other companies, which include Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Penguin, and Macmillan have all reached a settlement with the Department of Justice. The companies had to terminate their agreements with Apple and other retailers, and follow a list of guidelines administered by the DoJ to ensure this issue would never happen again. Read The Full Story

Xbox hacker “bunnie” Huang makes book free in Aaron Swartz tribute

, Mar 11th 2013 Discuss [0]

Xbox hacker and EFF Pioneer Award winner Andrew "bunnie" Huang has waded into the Aaron Swartz controversy, making his ebook Hacking the Xbox free to highlight the important role tinkerers and explorers play. The book, which details Huang's exploits of the original Xbox console, and subsequent legal battle with Microsoft, was first published in 2003, and had a troubled release with the first publisher pulling out at the last minute over fears of courtroom reprisals. Read The Full Story

Amazon patent hints at used ebook marketplace

, Feb 8th 2013 Discuss [0]

Ebooks are pretty fantastic. Granted, there's nothing better than reading an actual, physical book, but being able to squeeze a handful of books on an reader or tablet is a good deal. However, the problem with ebooks is the same problem with digital gaming distribution services, where you can sell your copy once you're done with it. However, Amazon filed for a patent that hints at the possibility that the online retailer may start up a used ebook marketplace. Read The Full Story

Amazon Kindle ebook rentals take the time out of reading

, Jan 18th 2013 Discuss [0]

This week Amazon has unveiled Kindle book rentals in an extremely quiet fashion, opting to test it out with the public before doing any sort of press on the topic – but you can try it out right this minute if you wish. What you’re going to be doing here is renting a title for a certain amount of time, with the price going up based on how many months you’d like to keep it around. Thirty day increments appear at the moment to be the turn-over for how much you’ll be paying, 30, 60, 90, and 120 day periods being available for less than a dollar difference.

rental

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EU accepts ebook pricing compromise by Apple and key publishers

, Dec 13th 2012 Discuss [0]

The settlement offer by Apple along with four international publishers over allegations of price fixing has been accepted by the European Commission, settling concerns that ebook costs were artificially inflated in the iBookstore. The deal will see any existing agency agreements between Apple, HarperCollins, Hachette Livre, Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck, and Simon & Schuster terminated, and certain provisions that had been in place until now removed from future contracts. Read The Full Story

Apple avoids antitrust investigation by allowing Amazon to lower ebook prices

, Nov 6th 2012 Discuss [0]

Apple has negotiated a deal with European Union regulators that will result in the company avoiding a potential investigation on antitrust violations. However, in return, Apple is letting Amazon set their own prices for ebooks, which will most likely be lower than what Apple offers in their iBooks store. Read The Full Story
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