Amazon vs. the Big Four: Bold Visions vs. Ambitious Lawyers

I’m amazed (or should I say, Amazoned!) in the IP debate, we’ve slowly seen the music industry erect IP firewalls around all the music content that they can possibly control: EMusic, Pandora, Last.FM to name but three of the recent victims of overly assertive lawyers and seriously compromised CEOs. It’s been too often that I have written about such hopelessly backward looking companies. It’s rare that a US company literally takes your breath away for the audacity of its vision: and Amazon did that today. How?

Amazon recently announced: the International Kindle with integrated Wireless! I can’t do it any better than Jeff Bezos… so, here goes. Click to check out the device itself, if you’re an international reader, then you need to read this page, otherwise US readers can go here.

amazon kindle international So, if you have been waiting or wanting a Kindle reader but couldn’t because it didn’t serve the non-US market, now you’re in luck. Good luck on getting one before Christmas though! I wonder what demand will be like! I’m so glad that Amazon recognizes the importance of its non-US readers by agreeing to serve them in this fashion. Up until now, I had been largely dismayed by the increasing IP restrictions on internet music listeners by the big four music companies. I’m so glad that there are business people who understand that there lots of non-cash strapped customers in the rest of the world (yes, 6 Billion of us!) who would love to purchase music and books from the US. I wonder if the Big 4 music companies will take note. Jeff Bezos, I applaud you and your company. Well done.