Page 27 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL6

Dougal Thomson, IPA director of communications and programmesMonopolies in book distribution are a social danger. Since books are a tool to pass along thought and understanding, monopolization empowers big companies to have some control over human thinkingdue to a conflict with them. Likewise, Apple Inc removed books such as La Femme and Tijuana Baby from the iBook store due to “inappropriate cover art”.Monopolies in book distribution are a social danger. Since books are a tool to pass along thought and under- standing, monopolization empowers big companies to have some control over human thinking. It also creates a risk of unjustifiable censorship and threatens the freedom and diversity of content. To ensure that there are enough bookshops and publishers to maintain a variety of books as cultural heritage, the governments of several countries, including France, Germany, Norway and South Korea, have launched a “fixed book price” policy. This agreement sets a standard price for books sold in the country and specifies the maximum discount that can be offered. This is meant toenable small, high-quality bookshops to compete with dominant retailers, and also helps lesser known titles to have access to the same shelves as blockbusters. Unfortunately this policy is limited to a few countries, and most publishers around the world are still struggling.Digital technology has also aided piracy. As printed content is being converted to electronic files and up- loaded to online systems, intellectual property can be pirated easily from anywhere in the world.With China considered one of the more notorious countries in terms of piracy, Hugo Zhang, director of government affairs for Reed Elsevier China, explained the current situation and the approach to defeating piracy in China.“Fifteen years ago,” he said, “ven- dors selling pirated books on the street or photocopy centres providing illegalElite+ 25