Abstract
The presence of Amazon is ubiquitous, especially in the online bookstore and e-book market. The introduction of the “Kindle” further cemented Amazon’s dominant position and business model in the market, having negative implications for authors, publishers and consumers. Publishers have less control over setting the price to have access to Amazon’s customer base. This will affect the authors’ remuneration and attribution. On the other hand, Kindle users are locked-in consumers, limited to Amazon’s e-book offering. This not only affects consumer choice but also reinforces Amazon’s market power due to the significant network effects. The European Commission attempted to increase competition in the e-book market by banning most-favourite-nation clauses, but this has seemingly failed. This article advocates for enforcing the Kindle’s interoperability with the e-book formats of other e-book providers. The proposed approach is beneficial for publishers as well as consumers. It safeguards copyright aims while alleviating the contractual constraints imposed by Amazon. Furthermore, consumers would benefit from broader flexibility when using their Kindle, allowing them to store and read e-books from the provider of their choice.
Highlights
In 2017, the European Commission and Amazon agreed on conditions imposed on the largest trade book publishers to ensure competition in the e-book market.1 It was the culmination of a long-running dispute between Amazon and the largest book publishers about the latter’s loss of pricing control
The solutions adopted under copyright to limit online piracy, especially the strong protection and widespread use of highly restrictive digital rights management software, create major obstacles for consumers to switch between providers while limiting consumer behaviour beyond what copyright envisions
Schroff show that the dominant role of Amazon has changed the industry dynamics and needs to be addressed by critically evaluating the role played by competition rules and the use of digital rights management (DRM) software
Summary
In 2017, the European Commission and Amazon agreed on conditions imposed on the largest trade book publishers to ensure competition in the e-book market. It was the culmination of a long-running dispute between Amazon and the largest book publishers about the latter’s loss of pricing control. In 2017, the European Commission and Amazon agreed on conditions imposed on the largest trade book publishers to ensure competition in the e-book market.. Schroff show that the dominant role of Amazon has changed the industry dynamics and needs to be addressed by critically evaluating the role played by competition rules and the use of digital rights management (DRM) software. It proposes a solution by targeting Amazon’s dominant position in the marketplace and the pivotal role the Kindle environment has in this. That solution is to open up the Kindle by enforcing interoperability through Art. 102 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
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