By Dan Jones
Electronic book manufacturer NuvoMedia Inc has claimed that Microsoft Corp’s plan to promote eBooks that can be downloaded onto PCs and viewed on its Reader software will cause a copyright storm in the publishing industry. Despite Microsoft claims that it has developed copyright protection for the Open eBook (OEB) specification, which its Reader is based around. NuvoMedia’s CEO Martin Eberheard says that viewing copyrighted material on a fundamentally insecure platform like the PC will give the publishing industry the same kind of headache that the record industry faced with MP3.
Eberheard points to the way the supposedly secure Windows Media Player was hacked within days of being released. I have my doubts about the Microsoft copyright protection software, Eberheard said, because on a PC you can always run one application next to another. This can’t happen on the dedicated Rocket Book electronic book, Eberheard said. They’re built as secure environments from the ground up, he claimed.
The CEO shrugged off Microsoft’s deal with printing house RR Donnelley & Sons Co last week. The Mountain View, California- based manufacturer of the Rocket Book and Rocket Reader software has worked with RR Donnelley – the largest print firm in the world – for two years, converting books into the Rocket Book and now the Open Electronic Book (OEB) format and developing a web distribution system. However, Eberheard claims to be unworried by the possibility of NuvoMedia being over shadowed in RR Donnelley’s plans because of the Microsoft deal. They aren’t the only game in town, Eberheard said. He said the company had five suppliers in total converting book files into the OEB format and links with all the major publishing houses. RR Donnelley said that it would continue to work with NuvoMedia and other eBook makers.
Analysts agree that the eBook market will take time to grow and that the engine behind that growth will be small cheap, dedicated eBook devices. Naturally, Eberheard is concerned that if Microsoft proliferates its Reader software on the PC platform it could then become the standard interface on hardware eBooks. However, he is still bullish about his company’s prospects, partly because he thinks that the Reader software is clunky, expensive and designed for the PC world. They didn’t crush the Palm Pilot, did they? he said of Microsoft’s previous adventures in the handheld market.
He says that if he had to use the Microsoft reader it would add $50 to the price of the Rocket Book – the cost of the software license, adding 16Mb and doubling the performance of the main processor in the handheld – without adding value. Naturally, margin considerations are key in the consumer device market, where every cent counts.
However, despite the brave words, the company does seem to have been somewhat rattled by Microsoft’s entry into its market. Next week the firm will cut the price of its $269 Rocket Book – now dubbed the ‘Classic’ – and introduce a ‘Pro’ model at the old price point. The company says it will soon have reader software that handles the OEB format.
