Some of the news that’s accumulated on a Friday in August: The Australian Competition Commission announced it “would not oppose” Pearson’s acquisition of the bankrupt REDGroup Retail’s online business, including the websites for Borders Australia and Angus & Robertson. saying it “will provide a summary of the reasons for its decision in due course.” Administrators Ferrier Hodgson also said that creditors must lodge any last claims against REDGroup by September 1, with final dividends due to be paid out in October. In addition, any customers still holding Angus & Robertson and Borders gift cards who file claims with administrators will […]
eNews
Attorney Discusses Agency Lawsuit
In an interview on Wednesday, managing partner at law firm Hagens Berman Steve Berman confirmed a number of the inferences in our initial report on their lawsuit against Apple and the Agency Five publishers. Berman admits that for now they have no actual evidence of collusion and no information beyond what is already well-known publicly and outlined in their complaint. But he believes that provides a sufficiently “plausible allegation…that there was a conspiracy” to get a judge’s approval to go forward with the case and compel discovery. (Berman also has no direct knowledge of the civil investigations into the same […]
As Promised, Kindle Launches HTML5 Reading App
Amazon launched their Kindle Cloud Reader today, an HTML5 reading app that works through web browsers both online and offline. By using the browser, the app can work on iPads through Safari (as long as they are running iOS4 and higher). It works on all computer-based versions of Safari, and Google’s Chrome as well. It does not currently work on iPhones, but the company says it “will be available on additional web browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, the BlackBerry PlayBook browser, and other mobile browsers, in the coming months.” For iPad users, the app includes an “integrated, touch optimized store,” […]
Class-Action Law Firm Files Suit Against Publishers and Apple Over Agency Model
Class-action law specialists Hagens Berman filed suit in a San Francisco Federal Court against Apple, along with Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster, over the agency model of ebook pricing. On behalf of two people who bought ebooks, the firm alleges that Apple and the publishers are “in violation of a variety of federal and state antitrust laws, the Sherman Act, the Cartwright Act and the Unfair Competition Act.” Aside from explaining the agency model in florid terms, the essence of the complaint appears for now to rest on twists of logic and reasoning–or tautologies–rather than […]
Higher Ed: Free Food Trucks From Living Language; Nook-to-School Promotion; and More
This week Random House’s language learning program, Living Language, will launch its new Platinum Edition, a multi-platform solution that will allow users to engage with a variety of languages through course books and CDs, mobile apps, an online course, an online community, and individualized instruction from a native speaker e-tutor. The course will initially be offered for $179 in French, Spanish, Italian and German, with Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic editions to come. (The Platinum app is also available for separate purchase.) As part of the launch, coordinated by the ad agency Mullen (most recently responsible for a multi-million dollar campaign […]
eNews: Guardian Shorts Debuts With Phone Hacking eBook; Melville House’s HybridBooks; and More
The Guardian has entered the digital books space with Guardian Shorts, which will provide “detailed guides to topical news stories, public policy, sports and cultural events” through ebooks ranging from between 5,000 and 30,000 words. Pricing will range from £1.99 to £3.99 “depending on subject area, length and how much new content they contain.” They launch the program with PHONE HACKING: How the Guardian Broke the Story, which packages the paper’s extensive coverage of the scandal with a new final chapter by Guardian editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger. The ebook is priced at £2.29/$2.99 and available on Kindle now and on iTunes […]