Why Macmillan was banned from Amazon

[MrBlueSky]

Originally Posted by dsvick

Amazon just happened to have really good pricing so a great many people wanted to buy from them.

That surely, is the whole point.

[BenG]

A lot of people are using the term "price-fixing" in regards to Amazon, but I thought that it referred to a group of retailers or manufacturers agreeing not to sell a product below a certain price.

Amazon couldn't be guilty of price fixing on its own.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_fixing

In other words price fixing is a conspiracy between sellers.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by BenG

A lot of people are using the term "price-fixing" in regards to Amazon, but I thought that it referred to a group of retailers or manufacturers agreeing not to sell a product below a certain price.

The term can have other meanings. For example, in the UK, a manufacturer is not allowed to dictate what price a retailer charges for its products. It can set a "recommended" retail price, but any retailer is free to discount that price if they wish to do so. That would be an example of "price fixing" by the manufacturer, and may be the context that people have in mind here.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

Addition comment (personal) about Texas, not about books.

There are NO bike trails, or bike lanes in my city (Sherman, TX). There are only two bike parking racks in the whole city, other than what you would find at the elementary schools for kids, one at the courthouse, the other at the library. I think I'm the only one, in multiple years, to use the one at the courthouse (jury duty), because the traffic in the immediate area is so bad you are risking your life to even ride a bike in this.

There aren't bike lanes here because bike lanes are an added expense and Sherman/Dennison isn't that affluent. Sherman is struggling to afford dredging out the creeks so it quits flooding.

We don't even have the wealth/population base for a whole foods or central market either. Or a real bagel shop (Panera doesn't cut it).

You could move to Frisco for all those amenities and commute on 289.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by MovieBird

This is not to say California is perfect, we have many idiotic laws made by nearsighted political partisians. But, to compare a state who's best known catchphrase was designed to stop their constituents from littering (Don't Mess with Texas) with one known for influencing the world's culture (Hollywood, CA) is disingenuous at best.

As a native born and bred Californian, let me just say......tell me you don't think that was a good thing?

Hollywoods influence on world culture isn't something I'm particularly proud of.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by Phogg

There aren't bike lanes here because bike lanes are an added expense and Sherman/Dennison isn't that affluent. Sherman is struggling to afford dredging out the creeks so it quits flooding.

We don't even have the wealth/population base for a whole foods or central market either. Or a real bagel shop (Panera doesn't cut it).

You could move to Frisco for all those amenities and commute on 289.

Vote with your Feet?....GASP!!!...No American's ancestor ever did that!

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

We have too many politicians making too many laws to feed too many special interest groups. I think Texas has the right idea. One session, every two years, for 140 days. Otherwise, no legislation in session, passing no new laws...

Here in New York we could use those limits. I think having the New York legislature in session for 5 minutes is 60 minutes too long.

[MovieBird]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

As a native born and bred Californian, let me just say......tell me you don't think that was a good thing?

Hollywoods influence on world culture isn't something I'm particularly proud of.

The point was simply the disproportionate influence California wields, in many fields. If you don't like Hollywood, just replace it with Napa for wine, San Jose/Palo Alto for computer technology, or any of a number of other areas for world-shaking change.

I just hope the stupidity of our voting public doesn't kill or drive off too many businesses of tomorrow.

[LCF]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

As a native born and bred Californian, let me just say......tell me you don't think that was a good thing?

Hollywoods influence on world culture isn't something I'm particularly proud of.

Don't be too critical to the movie industry. A lot of really good movies come from Hollywood.
The only black point they have in my eyes is copying of european movies, and then advertising them as "the new, fresh, never been done before movie". And then, only when they make a really good movie look like a piece of something, coming out of the north side of a horse faced south.

[brecklundin]

Originally Posted by HarryT

The term can have other meanings. For example, in the UK, a manufacturer is not allowed to dictate what price a retailer charges for its products. It can set a "recommended" retail price, but any retailer is free to discount that price if they wish to do so. That would be an example of "price fixing" by the manufacturer, and may be the context that people have in mind here.

Harry,

I think you will appreciate this law passed recently in Maryland wrt to MAP and MPA's agreements, it is especially interesting because the law specifically mentions the sale of items to residents of Maryland over the internet.

WSJ Article (non-subscriber link, finally found it):
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124087840110661643.html

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/0...-price-fixing/

http://spectator.org/archives/2009/10/07/price-fixing {the 'against' POV but gotta show both sides....}

From the above:

On October 1, it became illegal in Maryland for manufacturers to set the minimum prices at which retailers may sell their products. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI) has introduced federal legislation that would do the same thing nationwide.

Legislators allege that when manufacturers prohibit their products from being sold below a certain price, they are hurting consumers. Discounters can't discount as much as they would like. Consumers have to pay more for the same products. Sen. Kohl's bill is subtly named the Pricing Consumer Protection Act.

We still have not seen the end result this sort of law will have but as there are several states working in the same direction, the so-called agency-model for physical goods might very well be gone in short order...and I am willing to bet there is a building full of lawyers, on Amazon's payroll, working on how to apply this to the issue.

It will be interesting to follow once both sides have their ducks-in-a-row...

[fugazied]

I can't believe this guy. he blaims Amazon for DRM?? Sorry buddy publishers like Macmillan are the ones cramming DRM and regional restrictions down everyone's throats.

Companies like Amazon and Apple know that products without DRM sell better, as seen by their music stores. Simply put it is another author siding with their corporate publisher/master over the interests of their fans/readers.

This certainly means your next book will sell substantially less copies, I hope you are prepared for that.

[DawnFalcon]

I'm not sure it's appropriate to blame Amazon for ebook DRM, no*. I do blame Amazon for the horrible, stupid mess that is the TPZ format, though** - and I'd prefer it if they supported DRM-free ePub, without which I personally won't consider buying one of their eReaders.

(*They launched their MP3-only Music store before Apple dropped their music DRM, for instance)
(**Even non-DRM'ed, I wouldn't buy TPZ books and I consider it a problem that they're not clearly labelled)

However, Apple's actions have shown that they believe that the vendor lock-in effect of DRM compensates them for lower media sales, and since they make most of their money off hardware sales, this may well be a better business strategy for them to adopt, even as it excludes me from their potential market.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by LCF

Don't be too critical to the movie industry. A lot of really good movies come from Hollywood.
The only black point they have in my eyes is copying of european movies, and then advertising them as "the new, fresh, never been done before movie". And then, only when they make a really good movie look like a piece of something, coming out of the north side of a horse faced south.

It isn't the movies, per se.........its the celebrity obsessed 'culture' they spawn.

A lot of really good movies "came" from Hollywood.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by fugazied

I can't believe this guy. he blaims Amazon for DRM?? Sorry buddy publishers like Macmillan are the ones cramming DRM and regional restrictions down everyone's throats.

We have had many reports here that it is hard to impossible for publishers to get books without DRM at Amazon.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by fugazied

I can't believe this guy. he blaims Amazon for DRM?? Sorry buddy publishers like Macmillan are the ones cramming DRM and regional restrictions down everyone's throats.

Actually, Pan-Macmillan are one of the only - perhaps THE only - mainstream publisher - who sell DRM-free books at their own web site. They are one of the "good guys" of the industry.