Amazon Has To Pay Microsoft To Use Linux?

from the fud-fud-fud-fud dept

Every few years, Microsoft tries to convince the world that Linux violates its patents. Usually the company gives some arbitrary number of patents. However, when asked to show proof, the company goes quiet. It's the usual FUD. Last year was the first time the issue ever actually showed up in a lawsuit, when Microsoft sued TomTom, but for the most part, it's still not clear what about Linux infringes on Microsoft patents. Still, that doesn't mean Microsoft can't use such FUD to get others to pay up. The latest is that Amazon and Microsoft have done a patent cross-licensing deal. These sorts of "we won't sue you, if you don't sue us" deals are pretty common in the tech world, and hardly noteworthy, other than the fact that apparently some of the patents Amazon are getting protected against being sued over -- concern how it uses Linux:

The deal covers both Amazon's Kindle product as well as the company's use of Linux-based servers.

Even though it's a straight cross-licensing deal, it doesn't sound like any money changed hands, Amazon still had to pay cash to Microsoft, on top of effectively paying more by licensing its own patents. It does seem pretty problematic, doesn't it, when a company has to "pay" Microsoft (whether in cash or via licenses to its own patents) just to use Linux? Perhaps it's time to redefine the "Microsoft tax."

Filed Under: linux, patents
Companies: amazon, microsoft

Amazon, Macmillan Fight Over Ebook Prices; After Amazon Removes Macmillan Titles, It Caves To Higher Prices

from the too-bad dept

On Friday, there was a sudden realization that Amazon had removed books published by publishing giant Macmillan, apparently over a dispute concerning ebook pricing. Of course, Amazon wasn't just removing Macmillan ebooks, but the physical books as well. After a bit of back and forth over the weekend, Amazon caved in and accepted the way Macmillan wants to price books, which means that Macmillan sets the retail price, and Amazon gets a cut. Previously, Amazon had paid a wholesale price and then got to set the retail prices itself.

I had been under the impression that when manufacturers tell retailers what the end user price is, it's a form of price fixing, but apparently not...

Of course, what may seem odd about this is that it appears Macmillan will make less per ebook under this model. That's because with its old wholesale pricing, Amazon was actually losing money on every ebook sold. As the NY Times notes:

In the model that Amazon prefers, publishers typically collect $12.50 to $17.50 for new e-books. Under the new agency model, publishers will typically make $9 to $10.50 on new digital editions.

So why are publishers specifically trying to limit their own profits from ebooks? Because they're afraid of ebooks cannibalizing hardcover book sales, which is why they're also looking to delay ebook releases. In fact, in this case, Amazon was given the choice of either increasing the retail price for consumers on Macmillan ebooks, or getting them many months later. All in all, this looks like publishers hurting themselves, yet again, by going against what consumers want in a misguided effort to preserve the way things used to be. Yet, in an age when users are punishing authors and publishers who don't treat them right, this could backfire in a big way.

Filed Under: ebooks, pricing
Companies: amazon, macmillan

Amazon Quietly Lets Publishers Remove DRM (Update: Or Quietly Adds DRM?)

from the that-seems-like-big-news dept

While everyone was focused on the new Kindle app store or the new royalty rates, perhaps a more interesting new thing slipped quietly by: without telling anyone, Amazon is now giving publishers the option to remove DRM from ebooks. It's odd that Amazon wouldn't publicly announce this, but I'm sure it has its own reasons. I doubt many publishers will actually go DRM-free for now, but at least a few can, and I would imagine that will make some Kindle users a lot more comfortable about buying those ebooks. Update: Hmm. In the comments someone points out that another take on this is that it's actually allowing some publishers who didn't use DRM before to use it. That would explain why it wasn't mentioned...

Filed Under: drm, ebooks, kindle
Companies: amazon

App Store Overload? Kindle Gets An App Store

from the it-ain't-the-web dept

It's amazing how people see one semi-successful concept and suddenly everyone has to pile on. The iPhone's app store has certainly been a success -- much more in terms of making the iPhone more attractive than for most developers. But it has all sorts of people thinking that "apps" are in again, and we're seeing app stores pop up in a variety of different places. The latest is Amazon's Kindle, which hopes to make the ebook reading device more valuable with more apps.

It does make me wonder, though, if people are betting too strongly on app stores, and not recognizing why it works so well in some areas. I also wonder if focusing on apps and app stores is going to make people miss out on the fact that web-based apps (that don't need to go through any app store) may overtake client-side apps. We've already gone through this on the desktop, and one by one, web-based apps have come along that match (or sometimes exceed) the functionality of client-side apps, leading many to turn away from client apps altogether.

Separately, adding another app store to another device may only serve to confuse (or annoy) some users. If you have an iPhone and a Kindle, and there are the same apps on both, which are you going to use? It may depend on the app, but my guess is that in most cases the phone is going to win out over an ebook reader.

Filed Under: apps, client side, developers, iphone, kindle, web apps
Companies: amazon, apple

Amazon Backs Down On Demanding Publisher Use Only Its Own Print-On-Demand Solution

from the stand-up-for-yourself dept

Back in 2008, we wrote about Amazon's questionable demand to book publishers that if they wanted to offer print-on-demand books, they had to use Amazon's own POD solution. A few months later, a class action lawsuit was filed, and after a judge refused to throw out the case, it looks like Amazon quickly agreed to settle (thanks Achura). Unfortunately, from the wording of the agreement, even though this was filed as a class action, it's not clear if it only applies to this one publisher or others as well. It is worth noting that Amazon is allowing the publisher to keep using alternative solutions and also agreed to pay the legal fees of the publisher. Amusingly, a monetary reward was on the table, and the publisher turned it down -- and wanted it written into the settlement that it refused to take money -- but Amazon didn't want that mentioned in the official settlement. Still, it seems unfortunate that at least one publisher had to go through all this trouble just to use the print-on-demand offering of its own choosing. And, while it's great for this one publisher, it leaves out the fact that many others caved in and agreed to deals that required them to only use Amazon's solution.

Filed Under: limits, print on demand, publishing on demand
Companies: amazon, booklocker

Kindle Fans Punish Publisher For Delaying Ebook Releases By Giving Books One-Star Reviews

from the do-not-mess-with-the-people dept

Last month we pointed out what a bad idea it was for book publishers to go against the market's wishes and to delay the release of certain ebooks, hoping to drive more people to the (higher margin) hardcover versions of the book. This is incredibly anti-consumer thinking and assumes, incorrectly, that people will happily accept the format the publisher gives them. Not surprisingly, consumers are starting to rebel. Apparently some of the books are getting hit with one-star reviews on Amazon as punishment. For example, HarperCollins -- one of the leading supporters of these silly "windowed" releases -- is discovering that its well-hyped book Game Change is filling up with one-star reviews. Going against what your consumers want is almost never a good idea.

Filed Under: consumers, ebooks, game change, reviews, windows
Companies: amazon, harpercollins

Guy Buys $3 Billion CD-ROM

from the economy-must-be-looking-up dept

There have been plenty of stories over the years of mispriced goods being found on various e-commerce sites. In the past, I recall stories about airline flights for $10 or computer monitors for $1. All of them were typos, and often the company behind them would deny the sales even as thousands rushed to buy. I never had a problem with companies denying such sales, but many insist that they should be enforced at the stated price. Last year, Taiwanese regulators forced Dell to live up the $15 price it accidentally posted on monitors to the 140,000 people who bought them. Whenever we write about these things people insist that, like in Taiwan, companies should be forced to honor the price.

So I'm curious what people think when the situation is reversed. In an extreme example, a guy bought an obviously mispriced $3 billion CD-ROM on Amazon. Well, the full price was actually $2,875,934,133.57, but amazingly, it did not include shipping (and handling) which added an additional $3.99 to the bill. Of course, it didn't take long for Amazon to alert him that it was unable to complete his order and that he was not charged for it. But do the people who support forcing the retailer to honor the deal in the first case support it in stories like this as well?

Filed Under: pricing, pricing mistakes
Companies: amazon

Calculating The DRM Tax On A Kindle

from the important-decision-making-tools dept

Via EFF comes this rather interesting calculation of the DRM tax of owning an Amazon Kindle. It's not a definitive number, as it would differ for different people based on what kinds of books they buy, how often and how many of those books they'd like to keep. But it's a good little thought experiment for those looking to buy a Kindle. The key recognition, of course, is that with a Kindle ebook you're renting, not buying the books:

There is one other problem with DRM protected books. When the reading device reaches its end of life, you have to assume all the content you purchased will be lost. If, for instance, I went with a Kindle, all of the content I purchase can be used only on devices supported by Amazon.

When, several years later, it comes time to replace that Kindle I may get a new Kindle -- but I can't assume that. Maybe somebody else will have a better device at that time. Or, maybe Amazon went bankrupt or evil or stupid and I need to switch to another vendor. There are any number of reasons I might like to switch my e-reader. If I do, I have to assume I won't be able to use any of the content I purchased for the Kindle.

Thanks to DRM, when my e-reader reaches its end of life, I will have to pay to acquire replacement books for the material that's locked out of the new e-reader. I call the amount of that purchase the "DRM tax" -- an added cost imposed by DRM restrictions.

He's quite fair in calculating his own personal DRM tax, noting that he probably wouldn't want to rebuy all the books, but just a portion of them. He also knows that ebooks are cheaper. But, in the end, he realizes that this DRM tax makes the total cost of ownership of a Kindle much higher for him than just buying the physical books -- even if it's more of a pain to have to sometimes lug them around. In his case, he would use it mainly for technical books, which is a different situation than, say, recreational novel reading, where "ownership" may be less important. Still, he feels that the DRM issue is a problem and a serious hidden cost:

Maybe someday Amazon (and publishers) will realize how much harm they are doing with DRM. If the DRM tax was removed, not only would more people get e-readers, but also, thanks to the low friction of e-book purchasing, they'd buy more e-content.

This is actually a key point. Just the fact that he had to run through this calculation to determine if a Kindle made sense is a serious amount of friction. If Amazon made this calculation easy (i.e., no DRM tax) that would lead to more sales.

Filed Under: drm, drm tax, ebooks, kindle, tax
Companies: amazon

Amazon Sued In Germany For Offering Good Prices On Books

from the how-dare-you! dept

I've never understood book price fixing laws in Europe, that require books to be sold at the same price. Economically challenged individuals claim that this helps independent booksellers who aren't forced to undercut prices of other book chains. Except, of course, forcing higher prices on everyone actually leads to fewer books purchased, less innovation and less opportunity for those independent bookstores to offer something better. These laws have caused trouble for Amazon in the past. Over in France, Amazon's famous free shipping promotions were deemed illegal for being an effective "price discount" on books. And now a bookseller is suing Amazon in Germany for supposedly violating fixed prices on books as well (found via Michael Scott). In this case, the bookseller is sick of people showing up with printouts from Amazon, and wants to force Amazon to offer higher prices, because apparently consumers must suffer.

Filed Under: books, fixed prices, germany
Companies: amazon

Amazon Announces It Sold More Kindle Books Than Physical Books On Christmas... But Doesn't It Mean Rented?

from the it-ain't-a-purchase-if-you-don't-own-it dept

Lots of folks have sent in various versions of Amazon's hyped up press release about how it sold more ebooks on Christmas than physical books. While this ought to make some publishers reconsider their hatred of ebooks, there are two points that make this rather meaningless. First, how many physical books are usually sold on Amazon on Christmas day? My guess is not very many. Books are purchased before Christmas day. However, I'm sure plenty of people did get new Kindles on Christmas, and quite a few then went and "purchased" an ebook or two to test it out.

But, again, since this is the Kindle we're talking about, shouldn't Amazon make the distinction between purchased and rented? When someone buys a physical book from Amazon, they then own that book and can do pretty much what they want with it, including reselling it or giving it away. When they "purchase" an ebook from Amazon, that's not the case at all. They're quite limited in what they can do with it. They can't resell it. They can't share it with a friend (unless they give up their entire Kindle and all the books on it). And, of course, Amazon can make the ebook disappear at will -- though, it insists it will never do this again. Even though it can. So, congrats to Amazon, for renting more books on a day when such rentals are to be expected and when physical book sales are probably at their very lowest.

Filed Under: books, christmas, ebooks, kindle, rentals, sales
Companies: amazon