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Amazon Caves to Author Guild Bullies

“Amazon has caved into demands from the Authors Guild that it disable the ability of the Kindle to read a book aloud. This is very bad news.

We had this battle before. In 2001, Adobe released e-book technology that gave rights holders (including publishers of public domain books) the ability to control whether the Adobe e-book reader read the book aloud. The story got famous when it was shown that one of its public domain works — Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland — was marked to forbid the book to be read aloud. (Here’s a piece I wrote about this in 2001).

Now the issue is back. The Authors Guild has objected because Amazon’s Kindle 2 has a function built in that enables the book to be read aloud. So when, for example, you’re commuting, you can plug your Kindle 2 into your MP3 jack and have the book read aloud.”

From Lessig 3.0, a blog about legal issues online. Imagine if you have to get permission to read to your kid. It’s the same dynamic. And this sort of bullying stifles innovation, especially when many of the works in question are in the public domain. This issue should be determined by the U.S. Congress and courts with fair representation from all parties, including consumers who often don’t have the funds sufficient to compete with lobbyists.

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