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This may be true (in response to Shaggy). However, when ebooks first came out the way you got books onto them was to plug them into a computer and download the books. So a company in the cable TV industry comes up with an idea to use the media they have expertise in to provide an innovative means of delivering the content (i.e. through cable TV). When designing their patent they realize they were thinking too small and decide that their invention is really about "providing encypted ebooks on demand" as opposed to downloading to a computer and then to the reader. When apply for their patent they list several different mechanisms for delivering the content to the reader.
Now the bottom line is that they were granted the patent. Secondly, Amazon's business model seems to violate several of the granted claims of the patent. Thirdly, even if a judge now rules that the general claim -- "providing encypted ebooks on demand" is "obvious" and should not have been granted (which is not a given), the narrower claim, that applies to Amazon, "delivering encrypted ebooks sent to a reader via a phone network" may still be upheld. Lastly, Amazon has something to worry about.
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