Cover Story: Amazon: The Elephant in the Room
There’s no way around it: The Seattle-based e-tailer has become the
dominant force of change in book publishing today. Whether that’s good
or bad for the industry is no easy question to answer.
Perhaps even more important, in Wikert's opinion, is the technical-legal side represented by digital rights management (DRM). This could represent a way to counter Amazon's increasing dominance, if publishers can work together. "One of the biggest opportunities is for the industry to realize that Amazon is creating a lock-in strategy for their customers, and publishers have contributed to it by insisting on DRM," he says. In this view, the Kindle and its proprietary MOBI file format are analogous to Apple's closed iTunes system. "If publishers could break free of DRM, just like music labels have, Amazon's market dominance could be better challenged."
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Mark Henricks
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