E-Book Lending in Libraries Suffers Setback
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E-reader owners love being able to borrow ebooks from libraries. The players involved in the e-reader business have made some progress in this area. But publishers are not too happy with the development. Penguin Group is the latest publisher to pull support for lending its books in electronic format in libraries.
Due to new concerns about the security of our digital editions, we find it necessary to delay the availability of our new titles in the digital format while we resolve these concerns with our business partners … Penguin’s aim is to always connect writers and readers, and with that goal in mind, we remain committed to working closely with our business partners and the library community to forge a distribution model that is secure and viable,
Penguin spokeswoman Erica Glass said. Penguin was not more specific about its “security concerns.” But intellectual property theft and piracy could serve as good excuses here. The group is expected to introduce this feature some time in the future but details remain sketchy at this point.
The issue of e-book piracy is always a big turn off for major publishers. Chances are the group wants to work on a more sophisticated DRM solution to keep people from breaking it. E-book lending in libraries already had some limitations. This is a move in the wrong direction. Librarians are certainly not happy with this move:
If Penguin has an issue with Amazon, we ask that they deal with Amazon directly and not hold libraries hostage to a conflict of business models … This situation is one more log thrown onto the fire of libraries’ abilities to provide access to books – in this case titles they’ve already purchased. Penguin should restore access for library patrons now.
explained the American Library Association President-elect Maureen Sullivan. At this point, it is not clear when e-book lending for Penguin e-books will be restored.
