Apple and four major ebook publishers have offered retailers such as Amazon.com the option to set their own prices for ebooks for the next two years in a bid to end an antitrust investigation in the European Union. The European Commission launched the investigation into allegations of cartel price-fixing by Harper Collins, Hachette Livre, Simon & Schuster, Penguin, Macmillan and Apple last December. The publishers are accused of colluding with Apple to fix the price of ebooks, forcing up prices for consumers and attempting to squeeze rivals such as Amazon out of the market. The case hinges on so-called “agency pricing”, which allows more control by publishers over retail prices, in particular an unusual “most favored nation” (MFN) clause. Apple, Harper Collins, Hachette Livre, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan have all offered to terminate existing agency agreements and refrain from adopting price MFN clauses for five years. Penguin has not offered any commitments and an investigation into its conduct is ongoing. In addition, retailers would be free to set the retail price of ebooks, offering whatever discounts or promotions they wish, for a two-year period, so long as the total value of discounts does not exceed the total annual amount of commission that the retailer receives from the publisher, reported the E.U.’s Official Journal on Wednesday. This could mean lower prices for consumers thanks to increased competition. However the Commission is asking... Continue reading at 'PC World'
[ PC World | 2012-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
Google’s AI-powered Photos upgrades are beginning to trickle in. Ask Photos, the Gemini-powered chatbot that lets you get ultra-specific and conversational with your photo searches, is launching in early access for select users in the US. In addition, the improved search for more descriptive... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2024-09-05 16:00:41 UTC ]
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OpenAI unveiled GPT-4 today, its next-gen large language model that is the technical foundation for both ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Bing AI chatbots. It’s a profound upgrade, potentially opening the door for major advances in both the capabilities and features of today’s AI... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2023-03-14 19:29:22 UTC ]
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Google has inked agreements with over 300 news publications in Germany, Hungary, France, Austria, the Netherlands and Ireland that would allow it to publish snippets of their stories on Search. The tech giant has announced the development in a blog post, where it has also launched new tool that... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2022-05-11 10:25:45 UTC ]
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News and Events The first-place winning design in the 2021 Neustadt Lit Fest poster design project by Sydney Sleeper University of Oklahoma students Sydney Sleeper, Andie Trillo and Jamie McCarley have been awarded first, second and third place,... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2021-07-21 14:32:49 UTC ]
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Citing mounting vendor debt and declining revenue, Tiger Oak Media—the publisher of more than 30 regional and bridal magazines around the country—has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Minnesota on Monday. The 26-year-old... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2019-10-10 14:55:27 UTC ]
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News and Events The prize-winning poster design by OU student Marley Smith NORMAN, OKLA. (Friday, September 13, 2019) – University of Oklahoma students Marley Smith, Abby Merz, and Sadie Gorham have been awarded first, second, and third place,... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2019-09-13 16:04:43 UTC ]
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Facebook is taking more of a "survey says" approach to what users will see in their news feeds. In a blog post published today, Facebook software engineers Cheng Zhang and Si Chen explained that the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company's traditional ways of determining what shows up in feeds—likes,... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2016-02-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The founder of 'author-centric' independent publisher September Publishing has said publishers should find time to “constructively” reject authors or they will “abandon the industry” and become self-published. Speaking on a panel entitled ‘Writing the future: author-centric publishing’ at... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Less than four weeks after Advent appointed the investment bank Macquarie to find a buyer for its German bookselling operation Thalia, the US investor has reportedly taken the chain off the market because none of the interested parties was prepared to pay the asking price. According to... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Instagram just made it official: ads are about to hit the social photo-sharing platform. "In the next couple months, you may begin seeing an occasional ad in your Instagram feed if you’re in the United States," the company said in a blog post today. "Seeing photos and videos from brands you... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2013-10-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook has reportedly been toying around with the idea of launching a distribution platform for mobile games, boosting advertising revenue by also taking a cut of sales. As of today, the initiative is official: a new Mobile Games Publishing page is now live on Facebook's developers site. The... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2013-07-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple and four major ebook publishers have offered retailers such as Amazon.com the option to set their own prices for ebooks for the next two years in a bid to end an antitrust investigation in the European Union. The European Commission launched the investigation into allegations of cartel... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 09/06/2011 - 15:21 The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has launched a merger inquiry after Smiths News Plc bought Dawson Holdings for £20m. The deal, which will see Dawson Holdings' division combine with Bertrams and provide the book wholesaler... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 03/03/2011 - 05:36 The administrators of British Bookshops and Stationers will begin an online auction of non-book stock, including forklift trucks and office equipment, on Tuesday (8th March). Interested parties will be invited to view the... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-03-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 15/02/2011 - 17:04 All remaining 28 British Bookshops and Stationers stores will shut up shop within a month, unless a last-minute deal can be made with any interested parties. The programme of closure will begin over the next week, with around... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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