Caught Napping

In a statement released by Andrea Schmidt, CEO of Bertlesmann's e-commerce group, music wasn't the only target of Napsterization. In a recent New Media Age report, Schmidt is quoted as saying that the book market is also a high-risk sector because of how content in produced. In other words, the widespread digitization among even tradition publishing production contributes to the wealth of materials above and beyond what may have been presumed. With sufficient bandwidth and money in place, it's conceivable that just about any digital file—be it music, text or graphic—is up for grabs by any Napster-like outfit.

But according to Rob Yoegel, vice president, online services at North American Publishing Company, content that is most susceptible to distribution is that which is most desirable. "To me it's simple," says Yoegel. "It's been proven that people listen to music online. It's yet to be proven that people read books and/or magazine content of any great length on a computer screen. The audiences are different and you can guess which one I'm sure is much smaller."

-Natalie Hope McDonald