Has Apple Gone to the Dark Side With iBooks 2.0?

Previously, Paywall Times had praised Apple for its iBooks 2.0 software, that’s really quite revolutionary and intuitive. Like a good Jedi, it promised to

Previously, Paywall Times had praised Apple for its iBooks 2.0 software, that’s really quite revolutionary and intuitive. Like a good Jedi, it promised to serenity in the epublishing world, restoring balance to our lives. We were in love and not heeding that small voice telling us to curb our enthusiasm.

But it looks like Apple may be as conflicted as Anakin Skywalker, easily seduced by the dark side of greed.

Close reading of their user end licensing agreement states that users can only sell their iBooks through Apple’s iBooks store, which also gives Apple a 30% cut. Digital publishers will not be able to sell works through their own site.

Moreover, Apple has the sole discretion to approve or reject a work. This means that you can create a work for profit, submit it to Apple, get rejected, and then not be able to sell the iBooks version anywhere else, even through your own site. (You can, however, strip the content of all iBooks formatting and then sell it through a different platform, like ePub or PDF; however, you will lose the unique interactivity iBooks software allows.)

It’s a bit like Adobe claiming a percentage of every PDF you make, or Microsoft wanting royalties on each presentation you make with PowerPoint. It also makes Apple the purveyors of taste. This is particularly alarming given their ban of pornography on Apple Newsstand.

Oddly enough, I supported their ban on Newsstand since storefront owners should be able to say what they want to sell. But software companies should not be able to tell me what to write. Will iBooks ban erotica? How about The Joy of Sex with its detailed illustrations (which are purely for instructional purposes, of course)? How about dated fiction, like Tom Sawyer, that uses racial epithets?

Their decision is also contrary to the goals of the International Digital Publishing Forum, of which Apple is a member is good standing. It looks like Apple is going to have to decide whether it wants to work to preserve the federation or create its own empire.

Note: There is some dissent on this issue, with some calling it just good capitalism. They may have a point, but the whole issue speaks to the bigger problem of companies outgrowing industry categories so quickly, anti-trust laws can’t keep up. The most recent example is Twitter CEO saying Twitter is not a media company but a media business. I’m sorry, what’s the difference?

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