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Apple Antitrust Suit would aid Amazon Page 03
profit.com.pk
Monday, 26 March, 2012
Banks’ Rs33bn excess cash reserves keep haunting interest rate corridor KARACHI
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ISMAIL DILAWAR
he central bank’s concern for ensuring a smooth functioning of the country’s interest rate corridor seems far from being allied, as the banks, both conventional and Islamic, still maintain the excess Cash Reserves (eCR) of over Rs 33 billion. The State Bank warns that by sitting on huge excess liquidity reserves the banks were adversely affecting the interest rate corridor in the banking system. “excess cash reserve… also has implications for the banks’ own liquidity management,” the regulator warned in a previous statement.
The regulator’s calls, however, seem to have fallen on deaf years in the banking circles where the central bank’s data show the banks holding excess liquidity to the tune of Rs 33.214 billion during the week ending on March 8. A breakup for the week under review depicts that the conventional banks’ cumulative cash holdings amounted to Rs 21.820 billion while that of the Shariahcompliant Islamic banks aggregated to Rs 11.395 billion. During March 02 and 08, the State Bank counted the conventional and Islamic banks’ daily average excess cash collection at Rs 4.745 billion, the former holding Rs 3.117 billion and the latter Rs 1.628. On day-to-day basis, the banks possessed additional cash worth Rs 565 million on
the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of this month, negative Rs 15.508 billion on March 05, negative Rs 9.686 billion on March 06, Rs 283 million on March 07 and Rs 56.430 billion on March 08. however, whereas the fast-growing Islamic banks’ were able to keep their reserves in the green zone, their counterparts in conventional banks could saw negative figures on their balance sheets for the entire week, March 08 being the only exception. The above amount is inclusive of the premature encashment the banks reported to the central bank as per the regulator’s July 2006’s notification. Sensing its negative impact on the interest rate corridor and, therefore, discourage the banks to hold eCRs, the State Bank has started making
public on weekly basis the banks’ liquidity that they possess in addition to their Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR). “To bring more efficiency in the money market operations of banks, the State Bank of Pakistan has decided to publish the weekly data of excess Cash Reserves maintained by commercial banks over and above the minimum required CRR,” the SBP said in a circular concerned. The eCRs is an amount that the banks posses over and above the minimum required CRR. The risk-averse banks are making handsome profits through massively investing in the heavily-weighted government papers that include Market Treasury Bills, Pakistan Investment Bonds and Islamic bonds (Ijara Sukuk).
US seeks more interest in Alaska offshore drilling WASHINGTON
It’s all red in Islamabad Strawberries add colour to capital’s fruit markets ISLAMABAD
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TRAwBeRRy-A short seasoned fruit with all its nutritious benefits has added colour to the fruit markets of federal capital, alluring the food lovers with its vibrant red colour and sweet taste. The heart shaped red fruit strawberry arrives in the markets in the month of February and its demand rises usually on the time of Valentine’s Day, a private news channel reported. There was a time when strawberries were considered as a lavish fruit and was imported and out of the reach of the average consumer. But nowadays many farms have begun sowing and harvesting strawberry to ensure its
availability in different markets for the consumers. Strawberry is a very versatile fruit is used in many delicious drinks, desserts, juice, smoothies, sundaes, shortcake, ice-cream, strawberry cheese cake, jam and a host of other mouth watering combinations that stimulate the senses. Many vendors are selling strawberries on hand carts in small and big markets and back roads in the city but the fruit is still not affordable by the average buyer. The price of strawberry remain high in the month of February and drop as the weather turns warmer after March. Fresh strawberries can be kept in the fridge for a few days while cooked ones can be frozen for use when the season is over. According to the health experts,
strawberries have higher levels of vitamin C, fiber, folate and potassium than most other fruits like bananas, apples and even oranges and help reduce risk of cancer, enhance memory function and rheumatoid arthritis. A study by Dr. Gene Spiller from Nutrition and health Research Center has shown that eating one serving (about 8-10 strawberries) a day can significantly decrease blood pressure, which may reduce the risk of heart disease. Pakistan is producing a limited quantity of strawberries which are either eaten or used in preparing ice-cream, jam, jelly, pickle, cake or milk shake. The varieties of strawberries grown in Pakistan are Chandelier, Corona and Stuff, mostly sour and small in size.
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REUTERS
he Obama administration on Saturday said it would again gauge interest from the oil and gas industry to explore federal waters off the Alaska coast, another bid to expand domestic energy production as gas prices soar and political pressure grows. The Interior Department said it would again issue an official request for drilling interest in potential development leases in federal waters in Cook Inlet off the south-central coast of Alaska. A federal lease sale for that area a year ago was canceled because of lack of interest. Cook Inlet, the channel that runs from the Anchorage area south to the Gulf of Alaska, is home to Alaska’s oldest producing oil and gas basin. The Interior Department has estimated the area could contain more than 1 billion barrels of oil and 1.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas that is undiscovered and potentially recoverable. It has said at least one company has expressed interest, but has not identified it.
There were 13 exploration wells drilled in the federal waters in the Cook Inlet area between 1978 and 1985, but there are no active exploration or development facilities in the federal area now, according to the department. The new request for interest is the first stage in a likely two-year process for selling the federal leases and comes as the Obama administration has been under pressure to find new domestic energy sources, an issue that has already had a big impact on the 2012 presidential campaign. Republicans have repeatedly hammered President Barack Obama, a Democrat, over rising prices at the gas pump, which have jumped almost 30 cents in the past month, pushing the national average to $3.87 a gallon. They have also criticized Obama for failing to approve the $7 billion Canada-toTexas Keystone XL oil pipeline, which Republicans argue would create thousands of jobs and bolster the U.S. economic recovery. Obama earlier this week pledged to speed up approval for the pipeline, though analysts have said it will not likely be completed until 2014 at the earliest.
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Monday, 26 March, 2012
news
Sindh food department all set to pull off April Fool prank… or maybe not g
389 wheat procurement centers to function from April 1 HYDERABAD
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INDh Food Department has set up 389 wheat procurement centres for procurement of 1.3 million metric tons of wheat from various districts of the province at the rate of Rs. 1050/- per 40 kilograms from April 1. According to official sources, the federal government has decided to procure 1.3 million metric tons of wheat from Sindh as a result of the efforts of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Sindh Food Minister Mir Nadir Ali Khan Magsi. The procurement of wheat will be started from April 1, 2012 at the rate of Rs. 1050/- per 40 kilograms and in order to achieve the target, Sindh Food Department has enhanced the procurement centre up to 389 in different districts of the province. According to details, the department has set up 22 wheat procurement centres in hyderabad, Matiari, Tando Allahyar and Tando Muhammad Khan districts which included hyderabad, Tando Jam, Matiari, Uderolal Station, Bhitshah, Nasarpur, hala, Z P Mori, K K Nizamani, B.D. Kaka, Bakhar Jamali, Saeedabad, Panj Mori, Tando Allahyar, Village Fahad, Pir Mari, Chambar, Meeranabad, Tando Muhammad Khan, Shaikh Bhirkyo, Khyber and Bakera Sharif. In Badin district, the department has set up nine wheat procurement centres in areas of Badin, Behdami, hayat Khaskheli, Matli, wali Muhammad Malkani, Kapri
Mori, Tando Ghulam Ali and Talhar, Golarchi. In Thatta district, the department has set up six procurement centres in areas of Thatta, Karo Khooh, Mirpur Sakro, Mirpur Bathoro, Sijawal and Jhirk. In Dadu and Jamshoro districts, the department has set up 37 wheat procurement centres in areas of Dadu, Khudabad, Phulji Station, Keti Jatoi, Moundhar, Piyaro Goth, Makhdoom Sahib, Johi, Tando Jan Shaheed, Chandan Mori, Jhangara, Aarazi, Bhan, Bhanbha, Talti, Khairpur Nathanshah, Shor, Sita Road, Radhan, Shah Panju, Kotri, Kakar, San, M.A. Shah waahar, Laki Shah Saddar, Changlani, S.M. Solangi, Khanpur, Bubak, Manzoorabad, Mehar, Muradabad, Amjnani, Samtnai, Khando Bozdar, Manjhand, Budhapur. In Mirpurkhas and Umerkot districts, the department has set up 45 procurement centers in areas of Dhigri, Sufi FaqirUmarkot, Pithoro, Samaro, Mubarak Farm, Khaan, Shadi Palli, Outaq Ali Nawaz Shah, C-Poto, Dajiro Mori, Tando Jan Muhammad, Dengan Tawn, Bachau Band, Pithoro, Phulehdion, Atna Mori, Chaudri Muhammad Sharif, Sindhri, hinghoro, Jhudo, Umarkot, hyder Farm-Umarkot, Tarko Mangrio-Pithoro, Mirpurkhas, Kot Ghulam Muhammad, Naunkot, Kunri, Muhammad Khan Chandio, Nabisar Raod, Talhi, Dhoro Naro, hoorabad, Ghulam Nabi Shah, Goth Anwar Ali Khan, Mola Bux Rajar, KaloiRehmanabad, Budhal Farm, Ahori Farm, Aajan Rajar-Lakhamari, Qazi Mohsin-Pali Dipu, Silver Mori, Latif Nagar at Raja
Rasti, Village Mir wali Muhammad Talpur, Digho-Umarkot, Village Rana Nadeem-Pithoro and walidad Pali-of Union Council Atta Muhammad Pali. In district Sanghar, the department has set up 43 wheat procurement centres in Sanghar, Knadiari, Piromal, Chotiarion, head Jamrao, Gajri, workshop at Qayoomabad, Tando Mitha Khan, Seeran wari, Sanjhoro, Jhol, Jamrao-41, Khadro, Chak-22, Rahimabad, Jafar Khan Laghari, Rawtiani, Tando Sero, Mahutangar, Kokli, Tando Adam, Shahnawaz Junejo, Landhi, Baqar Khan Nizamani, Naon Dero, Berani, Shahdadpur, Sarhari, Shahpur Chakar, Lundo, Chodegi, Maqsood Rind, Barhon, Sleman Dahri, Shuja Jakhiro, Khipro, Daliar, Khahi, Garhor Sharif, haji hashim Chanio, Bhit Bhatti Khipro, Goth Bhuro Mangrio and Village Faqeerabad. In Larkana and Shahdadkot districts, the department has set up 27 wheat procurement centres in areas of Larkana, Aqil, Dokri, Baqrani, Puranoabad, Village Naen Gaad, Karani, Badha, wadha Pul, wareh, Nasirabad, Abdul Rahim Qambar, Ghebi Dero, Shahdadkot, Qubo Saeed Khan, Kachi Pul, 97-Pul, Miro Khan, Behram, Ratodero, Lashari, Naun Dero, Sijawal (Shahdadkoat), hakim Shah, Miro Khan Qambar, Kot Ghulam Shah and Panjo Dero (Ratodero). In Shikarpur district, the department has set up 11 procurement centres in areas of Shikarpur, Madeji, Garhi yasin, Dakhan, wazirabad, \Chak, Sultan Kot, Mian-jo-Goth, Khanpur, Rustam and Village Mazar jo of taluka Lakhi.
In Jacobabad and Khandhkot districts, the department has set up 26 procurement centres in areas of Jecobabad, Abad Unar, Garhi Khero, Muhammadpur, Thul, Mirpur Buriro, Garhi hassan Sarki, Kandhkot, Ghouspur, Karampur, hebat Shaheed, Kashmor, Bakhshapur, Badni, RD- 22, B.S. Feeder RD-45, Village Sheralabad (Kashmor), Village Raees Arbab Chachar, Village Nazir Ahmed Domki, Village haji Ghulam Rasool Khan Khoso, Village haji hooran Khan Khoso, Village Sardar Ahmed Ali Khan Bhangwar, Village Mir Sahib Kosh, Mubarkpur, Bahadur Mirani at Dari and Village Gulbeg Chachar. In Sukkur district, the department has set up 23 procurement centres in areas of Arain Raod, Rohri, Ali wahan, Dhandhi, Sangrar, Faqieerabad, Kandhra, Salehput, Janwji, Dhalwaro, Panu Aqil, Sangi, hussain Kalor, Ali Mardan Chachar, Panhwari, Sultanpur, Thakrato, Mahesro, SITe, Bagrji, City, Tarai and Lal Khan Kalor. In Ghotki district, the department has set up 24 procurement centres in areas of Ghotki, Qadirpur, Adilpur, Mathelo, Sarhad, Khanpur Mahar yarolund, Mirpur Mathelo, Jarwar, Dahrki, Khooh No-8, Dad Laghari, Obawaro, Ranoti, Reti, Kamon Shaheed, Murid Shakh, hayat Pitafi, Muhammadpur, Garhi Chakar, Sardar Garh, Jan Muhammad Society, Sui Sharif and Khenjo. In Khairpur district, the department has set up 43 procurement centres in areas of Khairpur, Baburlo (Sasu Godown), Darb Mahar Shah, Pir-joGoth, Sadar Joun Bhition, Zafarabad, Gambat, Agra, Rapri, Ranipur, Sobhodero, hangorja, Koat Lalu, Sagiyoon, Naon Goth Pathan, Kot Diji, Kunb, Murad Gopang,
T.M Khan, Sikandarabad, Faqeerabad, T.M wah, Tirko, Pirwasn, Setharja, Bozdar, Paka Chang, Aman, Akari, Razi Dero, Musani, Paryalo, Rasoolabad, Loung Faqeer, wasanabad, handiar, Ahmedpur, Khehra, Sami, Chondko, Talpur wadda, Serai Piaro Khan and Bhango Behn. Indistrict Shaheed Benazirabad, the department has set up 36 procurement centres in areas of house Type Godown, Landhi Mori, Mushakh, Jamalshah, Majid Kerio, Qazi Ahmed, Nawab wali Muhammad, Aliabad, Shahpur Jahanian, Jam Sahib, Mirza Shaikh, Temure, Bandhi, Khadar, Sakrand, Daulatpur, Khershah, Mansoorabad, Gechani, Shah hussain, Bucheri, 68-Mile, 60-Mile, Chak No-3 Sahelo, Veer Point, Dour, Sabu Rahu, Shahabad, Mehrabpur, Jabar Dahri, Bachalpur, haberi Village, Manharo, Asgharabad, Mario Lakho and Punhal Khan Chandio. In Nausher Feroze district, the department has set up 35 procurement centres in areas of Naushero Feroze, Nurpur, Village Suleman Burdi, Padidan, D-K Mari, Phul, Abran, Mathiani, Mesar-jo-wah, Moula Bux Mubijo, Moro, Deparja, Nawan Jatoi, Sunehri, Bhiria City, Tharo Shah, Bhorti, Bhiria Road, Kalhora Station, Malhan, Dalhi Mori, Kandiaro, Darbelo, Kamal Dero, Khanwahn, Koura Khan Khushk, Mehrabpur, Lakha Raod, Cheho, Manjhath, halani, Mohabbat Dero Jatoi, Village Larak, Chanh Suleman and Mohram Khan Rajpar while in district Malir Karachi, Sindh Food Department as set up two wheat procurement centres in areas of Malir and Kathor.
The customisation revolution SANJEEV SANYAL
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he last two decades were the era of hypermarkets – massive superstores that could dazzle customers with an astonishing array of standardized products. But there are signs that the superstore’s age of dominance may be over. In recent months, hypermarkets around the world – walmart, Tesco, Carrefour – have announced results that fell short of expectations. Conventional wisdom is that this reflects the economic cycle, but it may be the first sign of a more fundamental shift. The world’s economic history can be seen as a race between transportation and communications. Transportation innovations allow supply chains to carry increasingly large quantities, which thereby encourages standardization. Communications innovations, on the other hand, allow for better specification of design, quality, quantity, and time of delivery, which tends to encourage customization. The dominant economic model of any era emerges from the relative evolution of these two technologies. In ancient times, transportation technology was poor, and the production of most goods was local. Since consumers and producers could communicate directly with each other, artisan manufacturing was mostly customized. This was the age of the village blacksmith, weaver, potter, and cobbler. In the eighteenth century, shipping technology improved enough to allow the creation of global supply chains. Cotton was one of the first industries to witness this shift. Slaves from Africa were used to grow cotton in the southern United States, which was then shipped to english mills. The finished cloth was then exported to the rest of the world. The impact of this change on India’s artisan weavers and spinners was profound. It is no coincidence that
Mahatma Gandhi used the hand-turned spinning wheel as his symbol of protest against colonial rule. By the early twentieth century, transportation technology witnessed major breakthroughs, including railways, the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal, automobiles, and even early airplanes. Ocean freight rates, for example, fell by 70% between 1840 and 1910. But, while improvements in transportation also improved communications – steamships and railways could also carry letters – there were fewindependent innovations in communications, the main exception being the telegraph. Good transportation with relatively underdeveloped communications meant that production
was centralized at major transportation hubs, and production lines resembling those pioneered by the American automobile manufacturer henry Ford were used to mass manufacture goods. Vertically integrated industrial structures were needed to minimize communication gaps between various stages of production. As mass manufacturing grew to dominate production, it was no longer possible for individual customers to specify requirements. Ford famously summarized this shift: “Any customer can have a car painted in any color that he wants,” he declared, “so long as it is black.” Retailing migrated towards large department stores that could use vast
selections of standardized products to substitute for customization. Then, in the 1950’s, two further innovations – telephones and containerization – brought another round of change. The telephone had been invented in the previous century, but it was only after world war II that the price of an international call fell to a level that was affordable for common business use. Meanwhile, containerization dramatically improved the speed, reliability, and cost of transporting goods. By the 1970’s, the Japanese had combined the two technologies to modularize production and create “justin-time” supply chains. The communications revolution of the
1990’s made supply chains even more efficient. One outcome was that hypermarkets could leverage scale, logistics, and lean inventories to squeeze prices and provide customers with unprecedented choice. Customer needs were met by providing a wide variety of standardized products – not through customization. One consequence of the democratization of communications technology is that it is now possible for customers to specify their requirements rather than hope that the available standardized products will suffice. The online retailer Amazon, for example, changed the bookstore game completely by offering almost infinite choice and large discounts. Nonetheless, first generation e-commerce still felt like a large hypermarket. At that point, it was not yet exploiting the new technology’s ability to provide low-cost customization. Today, near-customization is rapidly becoming the norm. electronic tablets and mobile devices, for instance, allow us to access increasingly specialized applications. Similarly, youTube has just invested $100 million to create dozens of television-like channels that will cater to audiences with narrowly defined interests. even Amazon has gradually transformed itself from an Internet hypermarket to something closer to a clearinghouse that matches customer requests with near-customized products. we are entering an era in which it will be commonplace to order a bespoke shirt that will then be made in the cheapest location in the world. So, will hypermarkets suffer the same fate as bookstores? Some, already aware of the new reality, are investing heavily in new systems. But, even if the companies survive, the old business model probably will not. Companies and customers should prepare themselves for a new era of mass customization. A version of this article was first published in Project Syndicate
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Apple Antitrust Suit would aid Amazon SCOTT TUROW
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BLOOMBERG
Re Apple Inc (AAPL) and the big trade publishers colluding to manipulate the market in electronic books? The U.S. Justice Department seems to think so, and is said to be near filing an antitrust lawsuit. Let’s hope it doesn’t: Putting an end to the deal Apple and the publishers have reached on selling e-books would be grim news for authors and readers alike. The Justice Department has been investigating whether the publishers colluded in adopting, for the sale of e-books, the same “agency model” pioneered by Apple in selling iTunes. Under that setup, Apple acts as the publishers’ sales agent, taking a cut (usually 30 percent) and leaving it to publishers to set the prices of the ebooks they publish. I have no way of knowing whether the publishers colluded. My friends in publishing insist that price was never part of the discussions, but the prosecutors seem to think they have a compelling case. All I can say as an author — and as president of the , the nation’s largest membership organization of professional book writers — is that if the government wants to intervene in the literary marketplace, I hope it will consider the complex ecology of bookselling in the U.S. Because if we reinstate the status quo before Apple’s agencymodel breakthrough, then bookstores and publishers are going to be the first casualties. Right behind them will be readers, who will see the diversity of titles and authors diminish while leading titles get more expensive.
BookSelling DArth VADer Looming over this whole discussion is, of course, which I consider the Darth Vader of the literary world. I admire its success in creating a new, wildly successful business model, but it has a deserved reputation as a frequently unscrupulous competitor. Last December, for example, Amazon infuriated retailers for products such as electronics and DVDs when it encouraged its customers to enter brick-and-mortar stores to gather pricing info on items that Amazon then promised to sell them at a discount. when it comes to books, Amazon has often used its huge market power to further increase its influence. Some analysts project that Amazon will own more than half the U.S. book business across by the end of this year. Not only does Amazon have 75 percent of the market in online sales, but it is spreading its tentacles to other areas. It now owns Audible.com, the largest seller of downloadable audio books, and BookSurge, an on-demand printer of self-published and other books offered only by publishers as individual copies. Last May, Amazon announced it was launching Amazon Publishing, headed by the redoubtable industry veteran Larry Kirshbaum, to compete hand-to-hand with the publishers. Competitors fear that Amazon will use its very to buy up the most profitable authors, whose success generally supports trade-book publishers’ other titles. Amazon already offers Kindle Singles, shorter works by established authors available solely on Kindle, leading many to suspect that the day isn’t far off when readers wanting, say, the latest by James Patterson will be able to buy it only from Amazon. even without Amazon,
trade publishing would be a . The competition from free content on the Internet — and the growth of video games and cable TV — has caused a steady drop in sales since 2001, with reading as a pastime declining. while there has been some since 2008, fueled by the growth of e-books and young adult titles, publishing remains an industry dominated by pessimism and uneven revenues.
BriCkS, mortAr, FAilUre Chief among the reasons is the death spiral of the traditional brick-andmortar bookstore. The discounting of bestsellers by the large chains destroyed the financial underpinnings of independent stores, and the rise of online bookselling, led by Amazon, cut the legs off the chains, with Borders Group Inc. closing all of its doors last year and Barnes & Noble Inc. struggling to survive. Amazon initially achieved e-book market dominance by
doing two things: publishing new digital titles at the same time they were released in print, and selling them at a loss — at $9.99, they were often several dollars less than what publishers charged Amazon, which inhibited bookstores and other online retailers from selling e-books. without real competition, Amazon has historically made suppliers knuckle under. Last month, it pulled from its site all e-books offered by the Independent Publishers Group, a collection of small publishers, because IPG balked at Amazon’s terms when its contract came up for renewal. In the print-on- demand market, where Amazon’s platform has become the principal sales venue, Amazon has demanded that smaller publishers use BookSurge at higher prices than competitors charge, or else have their “buy” buttons from Amazon.com. Given all of this, publishers and authors saw a situation approaching
where Amazon was the dominant publisher and seller of books, increasing profits by offering fewer titles at higher prices. enter an unlikely white knight: The iPad — unveiled in January 2010, shortly after Barnes & Noble’s Nook became available — made Apple’s proven iTunes- andapps agency model for digital content relevant to book sales. Five of the largest publishers jumped on with Apple’s model, even though those publishers knew they would make less money on every e-book they sold through Apple than what Amazon was paying them. (which shows that the alleged price-fixing conspiracy is one of the oddest in history, since it was, by the government’s logic, collusion to lose money.) Amazon responded with a typical show of power. when John Sargent, the chief executive officer of Macmillan Publishing, went to in that month to tell Amazon executives about his company’s adoption of the agency model, Amazon pulled the for every Macmillan title on its site — not just e- books — for a week. yet now, it seems, the government is taking Amazon’s side.
DiVerSe literAry CUltUre As someone lucky enough to be a bestselling author, I have personally profited from many of the tactics I am decrying. The heavy discounting of best-sellers meant I sold more books and thus made more money because royalties on physical books are paid as a percentage of the cover price. even Amazon’s e-book pricing practices were better for me than the agency model. But I am also a reader who believes that our literary culture and our democracy are at their best with the greatest diversity of voices. This comes from allowing the largest number of authors possible to maintain careers as
professional writers. Physical bookstores offer not simply an intoxicating experience for serious readers. They have an irreplaceable role in introducing new writers. Market research consistently shows that readers are far more adventurous in their choice of books when in a bookstore than when shopping online. In bookstores, readers are open to trying new genres and new authors: It’s by far the best way for new works to be discovered. Publishing shouldn’t have to choose between bricks and clicks. A robust book marketplace demands both bookstore showrooms to properly display new titles and online distribution for the convenience of customers. (Apple thrives on this very model: a strong retail presence to display its high-touch products coupled with vigorous online distribution.) It may seem strange to hear the president of the Authors Guild expressing sympathy for the plight of American publishers. we have been at each other’s throats since the guild came into being a century ago, and we still have serious differences. But publishers, big and small, have played a vital role in broadening American literary culture. They add value for authors with editing and marketing, and most importantly by advancing the money so that writers can write. If publishing ultimately goes under, to be replaced by a model in which authors sell their books directly to the reading public online, it will become a winner-take-all fiasco in which the best-known authors make enough to live between books and new authors have a far harder time breaking in. Not all writers are blessed at self- promotion; ironically, success in an introvert’s calling would depend even more on extroverted behavior.
Competition iS riSing That is why the government’s apparent decision to sue the publishers and Apple seems so shortsighted. Two years after the agency model came to book selling, Amazon is losing its chokehold on the e-book market: Its share has fallen from perhaps to roughly . It has real competitors in iPad’s bookstore, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, and the partnership between brick-and-mortar bookstores and ’s . even direct-selling authors have benefited, as Amazon its royalty rates rather than lose titles. All of this looks like a more robust and competitive market, as opposed to the world we will be left with if the Justice Department paves the way for Amazon to return to its predatory practices. Scott Turow, a lawyer and president of the Authors Guild, is the author, most recently, of the novel “Innocent.” The opinions expressed are his own