Amazon spokesman Andrew Herdener tells us, while the company will not comment on active litigation, “we encourage anyone who has an issue with the cover attachment mechanism to return the cover and device for a free replacement so we can investigate further.” Separately, yesterday UK trade publication Mobile Today claimed Amazon is in “advanced negotiations with a mobile operator” in the UK, aiming for a pre-Christmas launch of Kindle in that market. MT says the UK version will be made and handled by Qualcomm, and will add wifi connectivity along with the cellular connection. But “the online retailer is known […]
eNews
Dems Want to Give Students 400k Kindles; WSJ Survey Student Doubts on eTextbooks
The Democratic Leadership Council has taken California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’ move to eventually save money on education spending by spurring open-source textbooks a few steps further. In a report called “A Kindle in Every Backpack” they present an oddly ambitious “proposal for etextbooks in American schools.” (It’s also odd that they chose to endorse a particular brand of ereader in their title….) Saying “the Kindle in every backpack isn’t just an educational gimmick–it could improve education quality and save money,” the organization recommends a three-step initiative that begins with “a set of pilot programs in the first year” that gives […]
Kindle Owner Files Suit Against Amazon Saying Cover Cracks Kindles; Seeks Class Action Status
Matthew Geise filed suit against Amazon in a Seattle US District Court yesterday seeking class action status for Kindle 2 and SuperKindle owners with devices “installed in a Kindle Cover designed by Amazon.” The suit alleges that “Internet complaint board and product review sites contain scores, if not hundreds, of complaints from Kindle owners whose Kindles have been damaged by the Kindle Covers.” Users report that the cover cause cracks or “bulges” on the side of the Kindle “at or near where the Kindle Cover attaches to the Kindle,” and indicate that the cracks eventually get big enough that the […]
NYT On eBook Release Timing–Ditto
The NYT follows-up the WSJ piece on Sourcebooks’ decision to postpone the ebook release of their new hardcover YA novel Bran Hambric. As we noted in our write-up on Monday, the Times reiterates that every house with a major frontlist fiction release is debating whether to delay publication in ebook form (and some are contemplating much broader shifts in the timing of their ebook releases). Since no one is talking about it on the record, the Times story doesn’t add much that you don’t already know. Interesting, in a quirky way, is this paragraph: “For now, Amazon is taking a […]
Bookselling: Borders UK May Have A Buyer; Taiwan Companies Pair for eBook Launch; Bookseller Advises Authors On Signings
While still denying that Borders UK is even up for sale and insisting that Clearwater Corporate Finance has been hired only to help “seek out funding opportunities,” it looks like the ailing chain may have a buyer, or at least a company ready to take it off their hands. The Independent reports that the private equity arm of restructuring company Hilco, Valco Capital Partners, “plans to acquire the entire shareholding of Borders UK and take the company forward.” Reportedly they are “offering to take on the Borders superstores, Books Etc and Borders Express shops in a deal that could save […]
Library of Congress Explores New Rules for Depost of Electronic Works
The Library’s Copyright Office is proposing changes to the rules governing mandatory deposit of electronic online-only works which would leave them “exempt from mandatory deposit” but now only “until a demand for deposit of copies or phonorecords of such works is issued by the Copyright Office.” They also seek to “establish new best edition criteria for electronic serials available only online.” The office notes that “Twenty years have passed since the adoption of the regulation used to exclude from mandatory copyright deposit electronic works published in the United States and available only online. In that time, the Internet has grown […]