Amazon’s Book Monopoly : A Threat to Freedom of Expression?

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by Conan46

They have so lost this fight. If your best strategy is only to bitch about the situation and hope the government steps in to save you...sorry guys, you are not too big to fail

You mean like Amazon when Apple was coming into the ebook market? You did know that the Big 5 and Apple anti-trust suit was brought about by Amazon presenting a white paper to the justice department, didn't you?

[Conan46]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

You mean like Amazon when Apple was coming into the ebook market? You did know that the Big 5 and Apple anti-trust suit was brought about by Amazon presenting a white paper to the justice department, didn't you?

apples vs oranges. Amazon isn't breaking the law, they are just being successful. The authors have no case against Amazon, and at the same time their old paradigm of selling books is dying.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

You mean like Amazon when Apple was coming into the ebook market? You did know that the Big 5 and Apple anti-trust suit was brought about by Amazon presenting a white paper to the justice department, didn't you?

Collusion is illegal. Amazon is not colluding, they're just outperforming.

Next ...

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Collusion is illegal. Amazon is not colluding, they're just outperforming.

Next ...

And they are outperforming especially because the Five Menendez Publishing Orphans outright cut off their ebooks for a long time to established Amazon competitors and those outlets couldn't weather the drought very well. They either went under or found their customer base had realigned themselves with *drumroll* Amazon who still had all those independent authors and a trickle from the big five.

Poor big publishers.
Poor authors United.
Actions aren't supposed to have lingering consequences.

[darryl]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

You mean like Amazon when Apple was coming into the ebook market? You did know that the Big 5 and Apple anti-trust suit was brought about by Amazon presenting a white paper to the justice department, didn't you?

The usual nonsense. "When Apple was coming into the ebook market". A banal phrase hiding behind it a grubby conspiracy. Apple could have come into the ebook market legally. But it only wanted to come into the market if it could make its usual healthy margin. It did not want to enter into the market as it was, where it would have had to compete with Amazon on price. It wanted to remake the market to its liking. And so it colluded with the large publishers. Colluded to raise prices (though not to the level wanted by some of its greedy co-conspirators). Colluded to ensure the absence of price competition at the retail level.

To use a so-topical in the US gun analogy, Amazon may have provided the bullets which the DOJ fired (and if I may stretch the analogy, unfortunately only wounded and did not kill). On the other hand, in AU's approaches to the DOJ they have provided only blanks, and the DOJ does not so far appear to be too keen on going into a battle not its own loaded only with blanks.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by darryl

The usual nonsense. "When Apple was coming into the ebook market". A banal phrase hiding behind it a grubby conspiracy. Apple could have come into the ebook market legally. But it only wanted to come into the market if it could make its usual healthy margin. It did not want to enter into the market as it was, where it would have had to compete with Amazon on price. It wanted to remake the market to its liking. And so it colluded with the large publishers. Colluded to raise prices (though not to the level wanted by some of its greedy co-conspirators). Colluded to ensure the absence of price competition at the retail level.

To use a so-topical in the US gun analogy, Amazon may have provided the bullets which the DOJ fired (and if I may stretch the analogy, unfortunately only wounded and did not kill). On the other hand, in AU's approaches to the DOJ they have provided only blanks, and the DOJ does not so far appear to be too keen on going into a battle not its own loaded only with blanks.

Yea, yea, yea. My guy does it, good for him, just smart business. The other guy does it, evil, evil, evil, illegal collusion. Amazon wasn't on the side of the angels. Amazon was leveraging their control of the market, trying to muscle the publishers, heck the appeals judge (Dennis Jacobs) even called Amazon a monopolist and referred to predatory pricing. They were playing a hard ball. Whither or not Apple engaged in illegal collusion will most likely be determined by the Supreme Court.

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

Amazon’s Book Monopoly : A Threat to Freedom of Expression?
https://www.newamerica.org/open-mark...book-monopoly/



Authors United to Host Amazon Discussion
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/b...iscussion.html

Unless Amazon is altering, filtering, or prohibiting expression, which I have absolutely no reason to believe they are, then there is no threat to freedom of expression. This is yet another load of diaper doody by folks with too much free time on their hands due to the fact that they apparently don't have enough talent to express themselves in books.

[Phogg]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Yea, yea, yea. My guy does it, good for him, just smart business. The other guy does it, evil, evil, evil, illegal collusion. Amazon wasn't on the side of the angels. Amazon was leveraging their control of the market, trying to muscle the publishers, heck the appeals judge (Dennis Jacobs) even called Amazon a monopolist and referred to predatory pricing. They were playing a hard ball. Whither or not Apple engaged in illegal collusion will most likely be determined by the Supreme Court.

Apple doesn't and didn't have control of the market.

Next.

[dickloraine]

Originally Posted by pwalker8

Yea, yea, yea. My guy does it, good for him, just smart business. The other guy does it, evil, evil, evil, illegal collusion.

What do you mean by that? Was there a collusion process against amazon I haven't heard of?
The point is: Amazon didn't do anything like Apple and the publishers. So there is no my guy did it...

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by dickloraine

What do you mean by that? Was there a collusion process against amazon I haven't heard of?
The point is: Amazon didn't do anything like Apple and the publishers. So there is no my guy did it...

Market manipulation, engaged in predatory pricing. Yea, right your guy was as pure as the driven snow.

[emellaich]

Originally Posted by Apache

I have been buying books published by Baen since they started publishing books. I used to buy them, in hard copy, from book stores. Then I started buying hard cover books online because of the discounts available compared to buying them from a retail outlet. When Baen started publishing eBooks, I started buying them directly from Baen. I still prefer to buy them directly from Baen, even when they are the same price as other online stores such as Amazon. I bought Retief from Baen just the other day. I prefer to support Baen directly as much as I can. But, most people only buy eBooks from the online store of the company that sold them their eReader. Most people find it easier to do so rather than find it in another store and have to download the file, go to the trouble of figuring out how to remove DRM, download Calibre, format shift the books and upload them to their eReader from a computer.
Apache

I'm never quite sure what is best for Baen. Buy direct and they get more profit. However, if all of there die-hard fans buy direct then it reduces sales numbers on Amazon. Higher sales (and more ratings) lead to more new readers because they see the book is popular?

[emellaich]

Sorry, that I am coming to this thread two weeks late, I just noticed it, but anyway ...

The original argument is just wrong. Amazon does not threaten freedom of expression. If you do not want to use Amazon you can start your own web site and sell or give away your book. No one will censor you or stop you from saying whatever you wish.

Now, it is true that Amazon has huge market power. For the small guy, if you want to sell on Amazon there is no negotiation. You have to accept Amazon's terms and conditions (including pricing rules). Since the Kindle has such a large market share, most people want to sell on Amazon and have to agree to those terms.

But a claim that Amazon is censoring you? Amazon accepts almost anything as long as you agree to their terms.

If this bothers you start up www.altPub.ink (its available!) and invite all of your like-minded author friends to join you. There are very few barriers to entry. Use calibre and you can even sell your books in Kindle-compatible format.

[doubleshuffle]

Originally Posted by emellaich

If this bothers you start up www.altPub.ink (its available!) and invite all of your like-minded author friends to join you.

Sorry, but this link leads nowhere.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by doubleshuffle

Sorry, but this link leads nowhere.

That's why it's available. And cheap.

[doubleshuffle]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

That's why it's available. And cheap.

D'oh!


Not my day.