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Justice Department Responds to Ebook Lawsuit Objections
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by George H. Pike
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In a strongly worded document, the U.S. Department of Justice responded to public comments made objecting to the department's proposed settlement of price fixing charges levied against Apple, Inc., HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, and four other publishers. The charges arose out of an alleged scheme between Apple and the publishers to establish an "agency model" of ebook pricing, with a goal of defeating Amazon.com's widespread ebook discounting. Under this model, the publishers agree to follow the same pricing models in their sales to all ebook vendors including Amazon. According to the Justice Department, the scheme resulted in higher ebook prices and was a violation of federal antitrust laws.
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NEH Announces Award to Build Digital 'Library of the Future'
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The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced a $1 million award to support the incorporation and launch of the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), a groundbreaking project that seeks to digitize and bring together the contents of our nation's libraries and archives, and make them freely available to all online.
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New Home for Nature Network Blogs
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Nature Publishing Group (NPG) announced the launch of SciLogs.com, a new English-language blogging network for scientists and science communicators. Nature Network bloggers will be among the first to take up their new home on the WordPress-based site.
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Thomson Reuters to Acquire MarkMonitor
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The Intellectual Property & Science business of Thomson Reuters announced that it signed a definitive agreement to purchase MarkMonitor, a leader in online brand protection. The completion of the acquisition is subject to standard regulatory approvals. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
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The Challenging Landscape of Ebooks in Libraries
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by Paula J. Hane
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The overall growth in digital content of all kinds, and in particular, the growing importance and acceptance of ebooks, has clearly presented great opportunities for libraries, as well as plenty of challenges. Many libraries are coping with decreasing budgets while at the same time experiencing increased demand for content and services. Challenges include limited availability of ebooks from publishers, increasing demands for tech support with ebook readers and mobile devices, cumbersome borrowing processes, and minimal discoverability of ebook content. Two recent reports shed some light on the current situation, providing interesting statistics and perspectives.
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If you regularly read blogs, add these to your reader:
ITI Conference Blog – libconf.com – covering ITI's library conferences worldwide.
ILI365/InfoToday Europe Blog – infotoday.eu – news and ideas for, and by, innovative info pros from around the world, throughout the year.
destinationCRM Blog – destinationcrmblog.com – a blog from the editors of CRM magazine, dedicated to providing Customer Relationship Management information in a timely manner to connect decision makers and providers.
SpeechTech Blog – speechtechblog.com – updates on speech technology and its applications in daily life, covering everything from ASR to VUI, with lots of links, threads, and even a few pictures thrown in for good measure.
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