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Monday, March 2, 2009

InternetNews Realtime IT News - Amazon Backtracks on Kindle Voice Feature

Amazon Backtracks on Kindle Voice Feature

But differences over copyright implications still remain unsolved.

March 2, 2009
By Judy Mottl: More stories by this author:

Amazon Kindle 2

Amazon is rethinking its stance on the text-to-speech function in its
new Kindle 2 e-book reader, saying authors and publishers critical of
the feature will soon be able to block it from their works.

Yet Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) which debuted its second-generation e-reader
early last month, still maintains that the feature, called "Read to Me,"
does not violate licensing and copyright regulations.

The move comes as a response to criticism of the feature from portions
of the publishing industry. Last month, the Authors Guild, a writer
advocacy group, claimed that "Read to Me" constitutes a new literature
format that allows Amazon to skirt rules around licensing book formats.
E-books and audiobooks, for instance, are both licensed for compensation
purposes.
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But the Guild said that the text-to-speech capability of the Kindle 2
makes for a new format that is not covered under existing agreements.

Amazon said that it aims to avoid the problem by giving copyright
holders the opportunity to specify whether their e-books would support
the feature. The company said it's now revamping its publishing system
to enable writers, authors and publishers to disable the technology on a
case-by-case basis.

Read More...

http://www.internetnews.com/mobility/article.php/3807951/Amazon+Backtracks+on+Kindle+Voice+Feature.htm

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