Re: Re: Amazon remotely deletes 1984

On 7/22/09, Kent S. Larsen II <kent-bvea5+VdNl1Wk0Htik3J/[email protected]> wrote:
> At 12:55 PM -0500 7/21/09, Robotech_Master wrote:
>
> Hmmm. Does Amazon really have a responsibility to confirm that an ebook publisher has the right to publish each work?
>
>  I'd have to go look at the Kindle agreement, but I'm fairly sure it says something like "publisher warrants that it has the right to publish each book uploaded to the Kindle system, and indemnifies Amazon for any losses for works that it doesn't have the right to publish."

That defense didn't work for ThePirateBay; I don't see why it should
work for Amazon. Saying, "but they clicked on a button that said it
was legal!" is not enough.

>  Confirmation is not required for any brick-and-mortar store. No one is checking to see if
> Random House has the right to publish the latest Danielle Steele title.

Brick-and-mortar stores don't allow random people to walk in off the
street and sell books on their shelves, either. They work through
distributors connected to publishers, and there are legal
contracts--with real, legal signatures--involved.

Amazon should be requiring the same level of confirmation that any
paper publisher uses: a notarized signature on a contract, not a
click-though contract.

>  Why are we assuming that Amazon should check ebook publishers for the right to
> publish? And if they do have this responsibility, how does a publisher reassure Amazon
> that it has the rights? File documentation? A contract? What?

1) Because Amazon is making a serious profit on those publications; if
they're selling illegal content, they're liable for damages to both
the original copyright holder, and the customers to whom they promised
content that's not available. It's fraud to offer items for sale that
don't actually exist.

2) Contracts. Notarized contracts with real identification info, not
forms that can be filled out anonymously with fake bank/credit card
info.

3) They could also keep a database of 3-10k books that are not in the
public domain, for which there is serious ebook demand, that they
should watch for. This would work two ways--both as security for them,
and as marketing data; Amazon could seek out legit copies to sell.

>  It is certainly possible that the ebook environment will make it so easy to sell illicit
> copies of ebook titles that retailers will have this responsibility foisted upon them --

Not "retailers." Publishers. Amazon is acting as a publishing house,
not a reseller. Amazon is taking raw content, formatting it for
publication, and offering it in a closed setting (can only buy Kindle
books if you own a Kindle or iPhone).

> essentially raising a barrier to entry for new retailers (not what the ebook market needs,
> IMO). But until this happens, I don't think that Amazon or anyone else has a
> responsibility to check that the publisher has the rights it needs to publish any particular
> ebook.

Amazon *is* the publisher of these ebooks. Nobody else can create
Kindle-DRM'd ebooks. And the publisher certainly does have the
obligation to confirm that the books they create are legal to sell.

-- 
"I follow Eris blindly in all things. That She is the Goddess of Chaos
simplifies this immensely."  -- Christian the Pagan


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