Amazon lost that battle. It's a bad example if you want to say that Amazon has power (and if not, then I'm not sure why you brought it up).
As for the specifics of that battle, while Amazon chose a particularly stupid tactic that harmed everybody, in the bigger picture of the dispute I was firmly on Amazon's side (in my head, at least; I have no real power over them, Apple, or the publishers or authors), their side being the side of variable, generally lower, customer-friendly pricing for books, and higher royalties for authors (really, Amazon was losing money on ebooks, giving more money to publishers, authors, and customers). Personally, I like being able to sell books on eBay, to used book stores, etc. at a price I and the buyer can agree on, instead of on a price the publisher sets, but the latter's what's happening now for ebooks.
Amazon is fighting for the status quo, a more consumer-friendly price of $9.99 for books that are locked into its DRMed hardware platform. Macmillan's CEO argues that his preferred pricing model encourages "healthy competition" and would lead to the "long-term viability and stability" of the e-book market. What he fails to mention is that Macmillan is also free to continue charging Amazon whatever it likes for a product that costs less to produce and distribute than the dead-tree models. If Amazon wants to take a loss on each e-book for its own reasons, that should be its choice to make.
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Date: 2010-07-04 12:06 am (UTC)As for the specifics of that battle, while Amazon chose a particularly stupid tactic that harmed everybody, in the bigger picture of the dispute I was firmly on Amazon's side (in my head, at least; I have no real power over them, Apple, or the publishers or authors), their side being the side of variable, generally lower, customer-friendly pricing for books, and higher royalties for authors (really, Amazon was losing money on ebooks, giving more money to publishers, authors, and customers). Personally, I like being able to sell books on eBay, to used book stores, etc. at a price I and the buyer can agree on, instead of on a price the publisher sets, but the latter's what's happening now for ebooks.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/01/books-disappear-from-amazon-as-old-media-battles-new-retail.ars
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/02/publishers-continue-pummeling-amazon-over-e-book-prices.ars