16 Oct Strong Armed – Customers Win After eBook Price Fixing Settlement
In April of 2012, The United States Department of Justice filed a law suite against Apple, Amazon, and five prominent publishers with the claim that these media moguls were illegally inflating the price of eBooks. This week, affected customers of Amazon and Apple received a notification that they would be compensated with credits after a settlement.
eBooks and ePubs – Industry Trends
As with all other major media distribution mediums, the advent of 21st century technology has turned the print publishing world on its’ head. In recent years, our company has had an increasing demand for converting standard publications into eBook or ePub format. Our document solutions services team continues to stay on top of the ever evolving world of e-readers and the technology behind them. There really is some cool stuff out there, and as software and standards begin to catch up with the demand, e-readers look like they are going to continue to dominate the market for quite some time.
The Battle for Middle Terf
Online retailers and content providers like Apple and Amazon have a pretty sweet deal when it comes to being the middle man between publishers and consumers. All they have to do is set up a virtual distribution network and capture a few hundred million customers loyalties and voila, they are positioned as a middle man between a big rock and a not so hard place full of cash. Don’t forget that both of these media giants want to corner the e-reader market as well as the eBook distribution market, aka control the device, control the content, and CONTROL THE WORLD!
Well, maybe its not so dramatic, but its no wonder that with big bucks on the line, the world’s largest companies are fighting for strategic dominance, both on the consumer and the legal battlefield. I am sure this is not the last we will see of this type of shady business practices out of Amazon and Apple when it comes to locking up such a huge revenue stream.
Like the great Bob Marley once said, “time alone, oh, time will tell…” One love! Make sure to sign up for our newsletter if you liked this article. Oh and don’t forget that Word Wizards currently offers outstanding eBook and ePub services.