MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

stonetools · 06-26-2012, 09:10 PM

Highly regarded Journalist Ken Auletta has published a long article in the New Yorker on the DOJ lawsuit. I haven't read it because paywall. But a certain pundit (guess who? has an extended comment on it HERE

Some new nuggets of info:

1. In 2009, Hachette lobbied the DOJ to invesigate Amazon for predatory pricing, citing the argument that " that their copyrighted material was being used to sell Kindle devices and “drive bookstores out of business”.

2. What publishers saw, very early in the game, really, was that Amazon was aggregating customers that would soon find it difficult to get an ebook from any other source. In the parlance: their switching costs would be high. And they were the industry’s best customers.

3. Apple had stipulated to all the publishers that they wouldn’t open iBookstore unless four of the Big Six were on board.

4. A lot has been made of the fact that Apple has required the publishers to let them price-match. Now we know that Apple drove the deal. They said to the publishers, “we’ll let you set the price. as long as you don’t make us look like monkeys in relation to the print book price. But, of course, you can’t require us to sell at a price disadvantage, so you have to allow us to match any lower price.

5. Auletta reported that the publishers going to agency sacrificed significant revenue by doing so. He quoted agent Simon Lipskar praising them for being far-sighted, willing to accept a hit on their watch to build a sustainable ecosystem. He quoted a CEO who estimated that $100 million was the aggregate hit to profits in a year.

6. BN invested $200 million in delivering and launching the Color Nook.

7. The Picholine dinner in September 2008, which the DOJ identified in its complaint as the beginning of the conspiracy, took place before Apple even decided to enter the ebook business.

Shatzkin is dead set against the DOJ action , so a lot of the article is argument against the lawsuit . But the above are some of facts Auletta reported. If anuone has access to the New Yoorker article, you are welcome to add to or modify the above.

06-26-2012, 09:10 PM	#1
stonetools Wizard Posts: 2,016 Karma: 2838487 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Washington, DC Device: Ipad, IPhone	Ken Auletta Writes on the DOJ Lawsuit Highly regarded Journalist Ken Auletta has published a long article in the New Yorker on the DOJ lawsuit. I haven't read it because paywall. But a certain pundit (guess who? has an extended comment on it HERE Some new nuggets of info: 1. In 2009, Hachette lobbied the DOJ to invesigate Amazon for predatory pricing, citing the argument that " that their copyrighted material was being used to sell Kindle devices and “drive bookstores out of business”. 2. What publishers saw, very early in the game, really, was that Amazon was aggregating customers that would soon find it difficult to get an ebook from any other source. In the parlance: their switching costs would be high. And they were the industry’s best customers. 3. Apple had stipulated to all the publishers that they wouldn’t open iBookstore unless four of the Big Six were on board. 4. A lot has been made of the fact that Apple has required the publishers to let them price-match. Now we know that Apple drove the deal. They said to the publishers, “we’ll let you set the price. as long as you don’t make us look like monkeys in relation to the print book price. But, of course, you can’t require us to sell at a price disadvantage, so you have to allow us to match any lower price. 5. Auletta reported that the publishers going to agency sacrificed significant revenue by doing so. He quoted agent Simon Lipskar praising them for being far-sighted, willing to accept a hit on their watch to build a sustainable ecosystem. He quoted a CEO who estimated that $100 million was the aggregate hit to profits in a year. 6. BN invested $200 million in delivering and launching the Color Nook. 7. The Picholine dinner in September 2008, which the DOJ identified in its complaint as the beginning of the conspiracy, took place before Apple even decided to enter the ebook business. Shatzkin is dead set against the DOJ action , so a lot of the article is argument against the lawsuit . But the above are some of facts Auletta reported. If anuone has access to the New Yoorker article, you are welcome to add to or modify the above.