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Publishers Attempting to Head Off Google

Category: Copyright Law, Google, Publishing

From Information World Review comes this article detailing how the "Major publishers are racing ahead with their alternative offerings to Google Book Search" with Harper Collins Publishing heading up a major effort in a deal with Newsstand, an online media distributor.

Macmillan Publishing is also reportedly working to develop its own online variation "BookStore" beyond the working-prototype stage.

Richard Charkin, chief executive of Macmillan is quoted as saying, "Publishers have to get their act together with the entry of Yahoo and Microsoft into the arena alongside Amazon and Google.”
 
Find the entire article, with links to more info about Macmillan’s effort, here.

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 8:27 am, Comments (0), permalink

Lessig: The Law vs. Technology

Category: Copyright Law, Digital Publishing

Professor Lawrence Lessig, founder of Creative Commons, and copyright-law expert details his thoughts on what he sees as a "war being fought against creativity" on the field of technology in this article from the BBC.

Lessig suggests a new approach to copyright law, advising that the relative industries: "Embrace and celebrate the potential of new technology. Stop suing our creativity back into the dark ages of the 20th Century."

Lessig touches on the hazards of stifling projects such as Google Print, and calls the new glut of copyright issues "the age prohibition."

Read the complete article here.

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 4:11 pm, Comments (0), permalink

Upcoming: Educational Publishing Summit

Category: Publishing

June 7-9, 2006 in Washington D.C. the Association of Educational Publishers hosts the 2006 Educational Publishing Summit.

Events and activities for industry professionals, listed in the summit schedule include:
-Learn about the most current educational trends
-Network among industry executives
-Review cutting edge educational technologies
-Uncover new markets and distribution channels
-Get an education policy and government relations update
-Receive professional development for educational professionals in Sales & Marketing, Editorial & Product Development, and Management
-Participate in the 2nd Annual Action Auction

View the official event website here.

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 6:56 am, Comments (0), permalink

John Updike at BEA Podcast Released

Category: Publishing

The much talked about speech by John Updike from the Book and Author Breakfast at BookExpo America has just been released as a podcast on the BEA’s BookExpoCast website.
From the site: "Mr. Updike abandoned a speech about his new book, Terrorist, in favor of a passionate discussion of books and booksellers — whom he called ‘the citadels of light’."

Listen to the 20 minute podcast here.

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 7:14 am, Comments (0), permalink

The Green Press Initiative

Category: Publishing

With the recent announcement of Random House’s commitment to using more recycled paper in its Stateside printing presses, we got curious about just who else in the industry is involved in the Green Press Initiative and found a short but healthy list of participants including:Lantern Books, Harvard University Press, Houghton Mifflin, Scholastic, Square One Publishing, and the Association of American Publishers.

According to the GPI website:

"The paper industry is the largest consumer of forests in the Southern US, currently logging an estimated 5 million acres of forests (an area the size of New Jersey) each year.

75% of the tree plantations established in the last 20 years have been established at the expense of natural forests.

Tree plantations host about 90 percent fewer species than the forests that preceded them  and require the use of toxic herbicides and fertilizers.

The Southern US, which contains the most biologically diverse forests in North America is the largest paper-producing region in the world.

Rural communities where the paper industry is concentrated are economically worse off than other rural communities, experiencing higher levels of poverty and unemployment and lower expenditures on public education."

Major applause for those publishers who’ve already taken measures to step up to the enviromental plate, and a nudge to those who’ve not yet done so.

To learn more about the Green Press Initiative, visit their website.
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Posted by Laura Dawson, 1:09 pm, Comments (0), permalink

If You Missed BEA 2006

Category: Publishing

You can check out the upcoming series of podcasts at BookExpoCast, starting with the opening night keynote speech of this year’s BookExpo America, with Tim Russert, author and host of Meet the Press.
Find the 40+ minute cast here.

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 6:40 am, Comments (0), permalink

URGENT – Yes, the government IS reading your emails

Category: Uncategorized

This is a bit of a switch for me to be blogging about, but I have not seen this picked up anywhere else. At 2 a.m. yesterday, Wired posted an account from a former technician at AT&T, Mark Klein, describing his participation in an NSA program called "Total Information Awareness".

Klein details his experience while he was working for San Francisco’s AT&T WorldNet. Just one excerpt:

In 2003 AT&T built "secret rooms" hidden deep in the bowels of its central offices in various cities, housing computer gear for a government spy operation which taps into the company’s popular WorldNet service and the entire internet. These installations enable the government to look at every individual message on the internet and analyze exactly what people are doing. Documents showing the hardwire installation in San Francisco suggest that there are similar locations being installed in numerous other cities.

According to Wired, there is a file that describes AT&T’s compliance in the NSA program under seal in a San Francisco courthouse. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed suit to unseal these documents, and their information on the case is quite thorough. 

As the saying goes, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you. The man about to be confirmed as head of the CIA is the man who has authorized this program and the phone wiretapping program for the NSA.

What can you do? Pass this blog post around. 

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 7:47 am, Comments (0), permalink

Stalked by the Pillsbury Doughboy

Category: Uncategorized

I was standing at the John Wiley & Sons booth, waiting for the estimable Jim Lichtenberg to meet me for lunch, an 8-foot-tall Pillsbury Doughboy sneaked up behind me. I say "sneaked" because the ambient sound of Trade Show Air is much like that of an airplane without the noise reduction headphones.

The Doughboy loomed.

The Doughboy gesticulated.

The Doughboy did everything but tap me on the shoulder or yell, "HEY YOU!" – which, I suppose, doughboys do not do. At least, not doughboys who want to get paid.

I amused myself by not responding to this particular Doughboy, moving around, then turning my back on him, then staring him blankly in the face, and in general pushing him to his absolute limit in trying to get me to poke him in the belly without actually asking me to. Mercifully, Jim arrived and rescued the situation from getting too ugly. Biscuits at 11.

The fact that this is what I am blogging about is an indication of the excitement level of this particular BEA. Last year, of course, we were spoiled by the excitement of Google Print – this year, we had…BookSurge. (Oh boy!)

So…no controversy, much ISBN-13, a little GDSN – and so we look forward to next year. A little calm between storms is probably a good thing.

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 9:00 pm, Comments (0), permalink

BookExpo America 2006

Category: Publishing

Laura has just returned to New York from BEA 2006, and while we await her take on the event, which drew thousands of booksellers, publishers, authors, and other industry insiders, here’s a peek into the highlights from the conference/exhibition via an article from The Washington Times.

You can also view pictures, and sign up to receive notification of the upcoming series of podcasts from BookExpo America 2006 – which will include a speech by author John Updike, who reportedly brought the house down in applause with his heartfelt references to the non-digital age; an era seemingly passed in the book industry.

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 3:39 am, Comments (0), permalink

Random House Goes a Bit More Green

Category: Publishing

Random House is vowing to increase the percentage of recycled paper it uses to print books in the U.S. (though there are no figures describing just how much of it’s printing is done in the States as opposed to overseas.)
Currently, RH publishes books stateside with 3% recycled content, and plans to up that to 30% by 2010.
Any move in this direction is a good one, even the slightest, so kudos to the publishing giant for making the step toward environmental awareness and protection in an industry that relies heavily on natural resources to make a profit.

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Posted by Laura Dawson, 7:23 am, Comments (0), permalink
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