Re: How Book Publishers Can Beat Amazon

Chris,

You are spot on, of course, with that comment. But there is more to it 
with Amazon. I've now understood the purpose of the Robinson-Patman Act 
in the US, which has been ignored. This article discusses it: 
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/6/amazon-books-hachetteantitrustbusiness.html 
.

That doesn't alter the distribution point you soundly make. But that is 
also why no single company should be permitted to concentrate 
distribution into itself. Another law area ignored with Amazon [and 
maybe Google] seems to be the anti-trust one.

Joseph

On 02/06/2014 21:36, 'Chris Smith' [email protected] [ebook-community] wrote:
>
>
> So publishers want to sell something in return for money? Welcome to
> Retailing Business 101.
>
> It's been like this for a very, very, long time - but maybe just not for
> publishers.
>
> http://www.fastcompany.com/47593/wal-mart-you-dont-know
>
> What I saw in your article was publishing companies that seem to have
> skipped over the lesson about diversifying their distribution, and the
> risks of not doing so. Fixing that has always been something within their
> control.
>
> josephHarris joe9438-/[email protected] [ebook-community] wrote:
> >
> > How Book Publishers Can Beat Amazon
> >
> > By BOB KOHNMAY 30, 2014
> >
> > 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/31/opinion/how-book-publishers-can-beat-amazon.html
> >
> > "But there was a problem. When a company has dominant market power and
> > sells goods for below marginal cost, it is engaging in predatory
> > pricing, a violation of federal antitrust laws"
> >
> > "All was well until the Justice Department, supported by a white paper
> > supplied to it by Amazon, filed an ill-advised lawsuit against Apple and
> > five of the major book publishers for antitrust violations."
> >
> > In tune with my comments over the past few years on these topics.
> >
> > Joseph Harris
>