The Bookseller.com

17th May 2008

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Juden warns over e-book clash

23.04.08 Tom Tivnan

The Publishers Association c.e.o. Simon Juden has called on the industry to resolve the problem of differing e-book formats as the UK readies itself for the imminent launch of two e-book readers.

Juden said: "In the Kindle and the Sony e-Reader we have two devices that don't speak the same language, which require content in different formats. It's my personal view that this is not beneficial to the customer, the content provider or the publisher."

The remarks were part of Juden's speech, "Towards a Digital Agenda", given at the PA's a.g.m on 23rd April in which he stressed the need for all sectors of publishing to work together for a combined digital strategy, not in separate "silos". The industry must also take a "cross sectoral" view, Juden argued, joining forces with other creative industries because governments and regulatory bodies are increasingly looking at publishers and other content providers in the same way.

The protection of content and the fight against piracy remain of utmost importance. "Before we get into what new business models exists, we need to make sure our product is not stolen by online thieves," Juden said. Enabling customers to access content feeds into this: "Licensing must be intuitive, simple and straightforward at the user level or the user will look for ways to circumvent them."

Earlier at the meeting, Random House deputy c.e.o. Ian Hudson took over from Thomson International's Mike Boswood as PA president, while McGraw-Hill senior vice president Simon Allen was made vice president.

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