[darryl]

@notimp.

1. Amazon is not the devil, nor a Demon nor even a minor imp!
2. Amazon is not the only Vendor to take the "walled-garden" approach.
3. Amazon's control of your "three pillars" is in relation to the kfx format only, not to the market or even to a large part of the market.
4. "Industrialisation of Distribution Formats", apparently a hot topic in German academia, is nothing new. It is not even a very good descriptive phrase, as it fosters confusion between formats and drm. DRM and not the format is of course the main tool which facilitates lock-in.
5. We do not know what Amazon's intentions are with kfx.
6. In time kfx may be supported by Calibre, Kindleunpack, Alf's tools etc.
7. kfx, other than technical issues, raises only issues that have been extensively debated on Mobileread and elsewhere. It is simply wrong to claim as you have that the issues have not been debated other than in German academia.
8. .kfx is not even the only format used by Amazon.
9. Amazon is not a monopoly.
10. Adobe was only prevented from making mandatory the use of its new drm system because of pressure from its customers. This would have and still could affect all adobe protected epubs.
11. Even if the worst comes to pass, as I said in my earlier post, Amazon is likely to be a much kinder master than the oligarchs whose power is only now being broken.
12. Me and I am sure many others regard the European system which favours the rights of a few publishers under the guise of preserving culture as an abomination. Self-publishing and ebooks, fostered by Amazon, has done more for culture than all of the ridiculous EU protectionism.