ContentGuard

There's Growth in Them There Stacks
February 1, 2005

Book publishers are keeping their fingers crossed that 2005 will be the year the industry shakes off the period of stagnation that has coincided with the U.S. economic downturn. The domestic market continued to remain essentially flat in 2004, but industry insiders are hopeful that the market will soon show growth. The shift toward more flexible production schedules, and resurgence in educational and reference titles will likely be the engines that drive any industry upswing. Another trend in 2005 will be publishers aiming to enhance profitability by leveraging the cost benefits of digital printing and international sourcing. Setting the Stage for Growth

RosettaBooks To Address BookTech 2002
January 10, 2002

Last year, nearly 3,700 book publishing professionals from across North America convened in New York City for BookTech, the only event focused on the latest technologies and techniques in the book and e-book publishing industry. The total attendance surpassed the previous year by 21 percent, and was demonstrated by a packed exhibit hall, crowded keynote address, and standing room only conference rooms. The event featured industry experts from leading companies such as Microsoft, Adobe Systems, ContentGuard, The Lehigh Press, The Mazor Corp., Simon & Schuster and World Book, among others. Leading publishers spoke of hot topics like ASP's, e-book formatting, marketing and distribution,

More Adventures in e-Books
January 1, 2002

In my last column I said that what the e-book market needed was better infrastructure. Since then one of the biggest pure plays in the infrastructure sector—Reciprocal—closed shop, netLibrary declared bankruptcy, and two of the biggest Digital Rights Management (DRM) providers (Intertrust and ContentGuard) declared, in effect, that they would cease marketing their products. So is that egg on my face? To mix metaphors I shall save face by resorting to yet another two metaphors. The first is the Field of Dreams syndrome: "If you build it, they will come." In infrastructural terms: to play baseball, you need a stadium. One conventional wisdom would maintain

Turning Content Into Gold
September 1, 2000

Microsoft's release of the Pocket PC with e-book reader software may mark a crucial step in the development of electronic books. Here's why. By Danny O. Snow In ancient times, alchemists sought in vain for the mythical "Philosopher's Stone," fabled to transmute base metals into precious ones. The lure of turning lead to gold was irresistible, but the Philosopher's Stone proved elusive, and the alchemists faded away after centuries of fruitless searching. In recent times, publishers have been equally tantalized by the potentials of e-publishing: a way to make books available worldwide without printing costs, without warehousing and inventory, without shipping, without returns, and

Two Roads Diverged
July 1, 2000

A Review of New E-Publishing Products From Adobe and Microsoft By Danny O. Snow New technologies may make publishers want to echo Robert Frost's classic lament, that a traveller can follow only one fork in the road at a time. Major new products specifically designed for delivery of online content have set the publishing industry abuzz, amid a flurry of controversy over earlier efforts to bring e-books more squarely into mainstream markets. Software industry leaders now offer e-publishers new strategies for the presentation of online content to readers -- but both systems must face the challenge of protecting intellectual property for the author and publisher. WebBuy and PDF