Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Sir Salman Rushdie attacks US investigation into ebook selling

Sir Salman Rushdie claims an investigation into price fixing of ebook sales by Apple and publishers will only result in destroying the income of writers and further encourage the belief that consumers can get everything for nothing.

The Booker prize winning novelist said that the current system by which publishers set the price at which electronic books sell creates "fair pricing that allows authors to make a living".

But plans by the US Justice Department – and the European Union – to break up the system on competition grounds will "destroy the world of books", he claims.

The probes on both sides of the Atlantic, focus on a controversial system known as the "agency model" which was adopted by booksellers and Apple.

This allows publishers, including Britain's Penguin, Harper Collins and Hatchette, to set the prices at which books are sold on the internet and for the retailer – in this case Apple's iBookstore – to take an agency commission. Read More

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