Published by deborah.woehr on 30 Mar 2008 at 09:15 am
Backlash Over Amazon Monopoly Tactics
Unsurprisingly, there is still no word from Lulu’s management about their position regarding Amazon. I also wasn’t surprised when I couldn’t find anything about this publishing coup on Amazon or BookSurge. This hasn’t stopped stopped people from reacting, both inside and outside of the blogosphere. The list below is from Beyond Niche Marketing, who has compiled a list of 62 people who have commented on this development.
- A New Amazon Mandate? Say it ain’t so, Jeff by Morris Rosenthal
- Amazon Forcing POD Publishers to Make a Hard Decision, Virtualbookworm
- Amazon Tightens Grip on Printing by Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, Wall Street Journal
- Amazon Tightens Noose on Print-On-Demand Publishers; Insists They Use Company’s Own Service by Rafat Ali, The Washington Post
- Amazon to Force POD Publishers to Use BookSurge by Jim Milliot, Publishers Weekly
- Amazon changes rules for print-on-demand publishers by Linda Rosencrance, Computerworld
- Amazon pulls a Microsoft by Robert L. Mitchell, Computerworld Blogs
- Amazon Puts the Squeeze on Publishers by Betsy Schiffman, Wired Blog Network
- Amazon Gets Demanding with Print-on-Demand Publishers, O’Reilly Radar
- Amazon.com puts the screws to small publishers, Valleywag
- Amazon’s POD monopoly, booktwo.org
- Is Amazon Getting Greedy? , open…
- Oh, REAL nice, Amazon.com, Beatlegirl’s Blog
- Market Report — In Play,MSN Money
- Amazon Muscles Print-On-Demand Services by Duncan Riley, TechCrunch
- Amazon & BookSurge, words count
- Urgent News for Authors, The Holistic Writer
- Monopoly - It’s Not A Game by Jean-Marie Hershey, Print CEO Blog
- Of oil lamps, Print on Demand, and e-book machines: Amazon’s Bezos as a would-be Rockefeller by David Rothman
- Deal Breaker? Amazon - BookSurge - POD - No Choice?, Workboxers
- Amazon.com’s POD land grab, BookFinder.com Journal
- Amazon Changes POD Tactics, Removes Velvet Gloves by Kassia Krozser, Booksquare
- Amazon The Monopoly, PersonaNonData
- Amazon Muscles Print-On-Demand Services, web2bite.com
- Use BookSurge or Die? by Victoria Strauss, Writer Beware
- Amazon/Golliath takes on the little guys by Helen Gallagher, Release Your Writing
- Amazon Bullies POD to Use Booksurge — or Else., Shadowhelm’s Journal
- Amazon Says It Will Only Sell Print-On-Demand Books That It Gets To Print, Techdirt
- Amazon deletes competition, LibraryThing
- What’s Amazon Up To Now? by Tawny Taylor
- Amazon Shaking the POD World Big Time, Juno Books
- A hearty “F$%k you!” to Amazon by Elf M. Sternberg
- A Call to Bloggers: Stop Supporting Amazon, Inhabitatio Dei
- Amazon to Force POD Publishers to Use BookSurge, Media Mensch
- Self Publishers and Amazon, Writerly Stuff
- Amazon Tightens Grip On Printing, booktrade.info
- Amazon to Block Other POD Services from Using Amazon Marketplace, Dear Author
- Amazon trying to screw small presses?, lupabitch
- Dear Amazon, What are You Thinking? by Monica Valentinelli, Words on the Water
- Will Amazon Hurt Small Pagan Publishers?, The Wild Hund
- Amazon and us by Gill Polack
- Will Amazon Become the Google of the POD Industry? by Deborah Woehr
- Down with The Zon! by Celia Kyle
- Beyond the POD grab: The IDPF should fight Amazon’s new eBabel, look for anti-trust violations, and reach out to Google by David Rothman, TeleRead
- Amazon blocking books of competitive publishers?, electronista
- We are not amused–veinglory, PODPeople
- Bully on the block?, The Pearlsong Letter
- The monopolists: You need to worry about Amazon too by Eion Purcell
- Amazon owns the marketplace: return of the distributor, Thudfactor
- Is Amazon trying to monopolize the empowering Publish-On-Demand market?, Chris Boese’s Weblog
- 500 pound gorilla, Idle musings of a bookseller
- Bye-Bye “Buy Buttons” for POD Authors?, The Backroom at Dehanna.com
- Amazon Making a Big Mistake by Cheryl Pickett
- Amazon to force POD publishers to use Booksurge, Murder by 4
- Amazon.com’s dirty little deed, pds_lit
- Amazon’s Stupid Anti-Competitive Move, Principled Profit
- Amazon Bullying POD Writers and Publishers Unfairly, A-ha
- A Call to Bloggers: Stop Supporting Amazon, Resurrection Life
- Amazon.com Is On Drugs, Thought Patterns
- Amazon launches their weapon of mass destruction, steps on the long tail of independent authors by Mark Riffey
- Amazon puts the Squeeze on POD Publishers by Easy Author Web Sites
- An Important Lesson from Amazon on How NOT to Treat Your Customers by Virtual Impax
Amazon plus BookSurge WTF?, by AuthorNation.com
Just Remember Amazon.com that karma is a beautiful thing, by Jupiter Gardens
You’ll find more reactions on the Lulu forum: Does Lulu Have Any Comments on the Latest Amazon Development? Lulu author, Anita Stewart has set up a petition for anyone who is interested. You can access it here.
Author on 30 Mar 2008 at 8:57 pm #
A good case can be made that what Amazon is attempting to do violates anti-trust laws. Waiting for federal anti-trust action would take many years–years to get the Justice Department to act, years of trials, years of fussing over what the court decision means. Notice how long it took to deal with Microsoft’s tactics, despite the fact that the corporations they were bullying were large and powerful. None of us can afford that long a wait.
Action at the state level, however, could move much faster, particularly if it involves off-the-record contact and a somber warning from those who can make trouble for Amazon. Amazon is headquartered in Seattle about a ten minute drive from the office of the Antitrust division of the Washington state attorney general. Here’s the contact information:
Office of the Attorney General
Antitrust Division
800 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2000
Seattle, WA 98104-3188
http://www.atg.wa.gov/Antitrust/default.aspx
Telephone: 206-587-5510
Fax: 206-464-6338
Note the remark on that web page that “The Antitrust Division only processes complaints that involve either Washington State residents or businesses located in Washington State.” Amazon is in Washington state, so it matters not where you are. You might also want to raise the issue with your state attorney general’s antitrust office, asking them to get in touch with their colleagues in Seattle. If you’re a publisher, encourage your authors to write. If you’re an author, encourage other writers to contact them.
Mary - Jupiter Gardens on 31 Mar 2008 at 4:20 pm #
Thank you so much for providing a link to my blog article. In light of the response by Jeff Bezos, I am posting a second one today. I really think this issue shows the common ground that small presses and POD publishers/authors can find, in spite of our sometimes vocal differences.
deborah.woehr on 31 Mar 2008 at 4:52 pm #
Author: Thanks for the tips and the contact information.
Mary: You’re quite welcome. I hope Jeff Bezos listens to what his customers have to say.
Fiction Scribe » Blog Archive » Give Amazon.com the Bird on 31 Mar 2008 at 10:57 pm #
[…] Backlash Over Amazon Monopoly Tactics by Deborah Woehr […]
Author on 02 Apr 2008 at 11:35 am #
Those who deplore this move can also contact Amazon’s legal department. Be polite but firm pointing out that, like Microsoft before it, Amazon may face serious legal consequences for this action.
Legal Department
Amazon.com, Inc.
PO Box 81226
Seattle WA 98108
Phone: (206) 622-2335
Fax: (206) 694-2530
This appears to be their sole in-house attorney:
L. Michelle Wilson, whose legal credentials are here:
http://pview.findlaw.com/view/1545441_1?noconfirm=0&channel=LP
Notice that she appears to have no particular background in antitrust law.
We may have had some conversation at one time and, if so, she reminds me of many Microsoft employees I talked with during its long antitrust battle. Feel sorry for her, as I did for them. These people aren’t evil themselves. They simply lack the moral independence to grasp that a corporation that treats them nicely and pays them well could do something unethical. Unfortunately, as silent partners they can play as much a role in a business’ downfall as those within it who are totally without any moral compass–the usual Social Darwinian, might makes right sort that seem to have the helm at Amazon.
For what can happen to Amazon if Amazon does not change and we persevere, look for recent news stories about the major decline in Microsoft’s ranking in both the IT community and with corporate executives. Ten years ago, with the release of Windows 98, frustration and anger at Microsoft was a little-noted grassroots movement, Microsoft was the darling of the stock market, and Apple was said to be doomed. Look how much has changed.
Might Makes Right - Amazon/Booksurge/Nation on 24 Apr 2008 at 9:25 am #
[…] by “Author” at Deborah Woehr’s post, that Might Makes Right is an attitude (or a governmentally invoked perk, your choice), we follow […]