Authors Guild Claims Kindle 2 Text-to-Speech Somehow Violates Copyright

The notoriously litigious ink-lovers at the Writers Guild are mad at Amazon again—this time for the Kindle 2's text-to-speech feature. Apparently, Amazon is effectively stealing and giving away audiobooks, or something.

The Guild claim, as printed in the WSJ:

They don't have the right to read a book out loud," said Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild. "That's an audio right, which is derivative under copyright law."

As Rob at BBG points out, the idea that a robotic reading of text is materially equivalent to a proper, recorded audio version of a book—read by the author in many cases—is ridiculous. It's possible that the Writers Guild folks are so whimsical as to think that every Amazon Kindle 2 download contains a tiny, kidnapped authorial homunculus that needs to be saved, but I think their perception of the device is what sparked this whole thing.

Still, the issue is more clear now than it will be in a few years. If text-to-speech synthesis improves much more, it could be mostly indistinguishable from a human reading, the widespread use such technology could render audiobooks all but pointless. Looking ahead to this time, we have two different perpectives: that dedicated audiobooks should gracefully pass into obsolescence, or that audiobooks deserve to exist, and that anything threatening their sales must be illegal.

Product Link : Amazon Kindle 2

Source : Gizmodo.com

Amazon's Kindle 2: No iPod for Books

Analysts see profits from the new version of Amazon's e-book reader, but they stop short of calling it a major disruptor like Apple's music player.

The unveiling of a hotly anticipated new product. An exuberant chief executive thumbing through slides. A surprise appearance by an A-list guest.

Amazon's (AMZN) Feb. 9 introduction of the Kindle 2 had all the makings of a product launch by consumer electronics wunderkind Apple (AAPL). "That was parallel to the performances at iPod launches," says Ross Rubin, consumer technology analyst with NPD Group.

That's where the comparisons with Apple should end. As much as some might try to draw parallels between Amazon's approach to books and Apple's take on music, analysts are clear that the latest generation of Amazon's sleek, white little electronic book reader is no iPod for the book world.

With this update of the Kindle, Amazon doesn't appear to be poised to shake up the publishing industry the way Apple upended digital music. "I think they ultimately believe that publishing will go digital and they want to be a player in the market when it does," says Gartner (IT) analyst Van Baker. At the same time, the company is showing itself reluctant to push too aggressively into the category—most noticeably, by pricing the Kindle 2 at $359, the same price as its predecessor. "They can sustain this price point for the foreseeable future. It's just not going to have explosive growth," Baker predicts.

Product Link : Amazon Kindle 2

Source : Businessweek.com