Teleread had a post about this claiming that it was targeted against the new company Open Road being started by Jane Friedman (ex CEO Harper Collins).
http://www.teleread.org/2009/12/12/r...ist-contracts/
http://openroadmedia.com/
Personally I think that Random House is just trying to milk a couple more hard cover sales of "Sophie's Choice" before they release the ebook.
Seriously I don't blame them for making the claim. They'll lose for sure if they don't make the claim.