On February 9th, BookLocker.com and Amazon / BookSurge were in Federal court in Bangor, Maine. BookLocker subsequently filed an amended complaint to clarify some points raised by the judge.

That amended complaint is here:
http://antitrust.booklocker.com/amended-complaint.pdf

Amazon / BookSurge has until March 20th to respond.

The Judge has asked for oral arguments on the motion to dismiss. In layman’s terms this means that the Judge wants the legal teams of both BookLocker and Amazon / BookSurge to come to Bangor and present their arguments in person.

If you recall, back in August Amazon / BookSurge lawyers filed a motion to dismiss (an expected legal move). Basically, the motion to dismiss is a formal petition to the court that BookLocker’s class action suit had no legal grounds and should, for that reason, be thrown out.

Requesting oral arguments gives the Judge the opportunity to ask questions of the lawyers on both sides and to understand better the issues involved before ruling on the motion to dismiss.

A reporter at the The Sunday Times (UK) went undercover at Amazon.co.uk after receiving a tip about labor conditions. Read the article HERE.

Think you’re safe from the Amazon/BookSurge ultimatum because you’re in the United Kingdom? Think again. You might be next!

Amazon has lauched a POD service in the U.K. While they say “We are offering titles that are being produced by other print on demand providers”…they don’t say they’ll continue to do so.

The article also states: “It is unclear whether this move will affect terms negotiations with publishers. North refused to comment adding ‘we are launching something brand new and we hope it will create savings that will benefit everybody’.”

Read the entire article (and don’t miss the reader comments!) here: http://thebookseller.com/news/68379-amazon-uk-launches-pod-service.html

We recently ran across an interesting quote by Jeff Bezos, written 10 years ago when Barnes and Noble tried to buy Ingram Book Group. (The deal was abandoned by Barnes and Noble seven months later under pressure resulting from antitrust concerns of the FTC and independent booksellers.)

Amazon.com’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, immediately took a defiant approach: “To our customers: Worry not … Those who make choices that are genuinely good for customers, authors, and publishers will prevail. Goliath is always in range of a good slingshot … Our long-term strategy has been to diversify our supplier base and to increase our direct purchasing from publishers.”
Source: Barnes & Noble Buys Ingram and Sets Off a Powder Keg

Pot, meet kettle.

PooperScoops weighs in with: Hypocrisy From Amazon’s Glass House

The petition from SPAN, the Small Publishers Association of North America, is now up:

http://www.spannet.org/amazonantitrust-signers.htm

Thanks to everyone for their support!

Publisher’s Weekly released a story today summarizing the arguments between Amazon and BookLocker, based on the court filings:

Amazon, Booklocker Trade Motions in POD Antitrust Case

As expected, Amazon filed a motion to dismiss our lawsuit last month. BookLocker today filed its response.

1. BookLocker’s original complaint is HERE.

2. Amazon’s motion is HERE.

3. BookLocker’s response is HERE.

We’d love to hear your COMMENTS! Please post them RIGHT HERE.

The wheels of justice tend to turn very slowly. We’ll keep you updated as the case progresses.

To: jeff - at - amazon.com

Subject:     Amazon.com’s recent mistake
Date:     Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:48:02 -0500
From:     Kevin Murphy

Dear Mr. Bezos;

I must tell you, first, that I have been an Amazon.com account holder for years, and have been delighted with the services that I have used during that time.

I don’t think that it comes as any surprise to you when customers/members tell you that the Amazon.com concept and execution of that concept were brilliant.

It saddens me, therefore, to learn of the colossal stupidity–or is it simply insatiable greed–that has led Amazon.com to enter into an incredibly exploitative relationship with Print-on-Demand authors ( class action antitrust lawsuit, BookLocker.com, Inc. vs. Amazon.com, Inc .).

As one who served as an organizational consultant for decades, I am amazed to see that arrogance can generate such amazing stupidity.   I have seen other organizations, similarly deluded into thinking that they were immortal and impregnable, disappear in the backwash of inept decision making, deafness to feedback, and self-absorbed arrogance.  The names Motorola, Zenith, and Osborne Computers readily leap to mind.

I realize that you simply may not care, but that seems hard to believe, given the great idea you have offered to the on-line purchaser.   But something bad is happening at Amazon, and it is going places that you will not like in the long run.   Fulfilling one’s obligation to stockholders to “maximize profits” does not justify killing the organization via the shortsighted pursuit of exciting quarterly reports

As a POD author, myself–one of those fortunate/judicious enough to have chosen Booklocker.com as my publisher from the beginning–I can assure you that there is no way I will shift affiliation.  I would rather terminate my book than that–although I will, in fact simply shift to straight e-publishing, if necessary.

In the meantime, until this issue is resolved intelligently–by which I mean that Amazon ceases its rapacious pursuit of profits to the disservice of authors, I have already ceased purchasing anything from Amazon.com (check my account activity since this fiasco began) and, further, I have instructed all my family and friends who have been inclined to send us Amazon-purchased gifts in the past, to find other sources–and I have told them why.

While the cessation of our business will not, in itself, stagger the Amazon.com juggernaut, the cumulative effect of my decision, its effect on all those whom I contact, and those whom they contact, etc., repeated by all the authors now being adversely affected by Amazon’s poor decision-making, can bring it down.

That would not please me when there are more intelligent options available.

Please, restore Amazon.com to its original, truly “user-friendly” state.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Kevin Murphy

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