Amazon, Apple To End Audiobook Exclusivity: EU

European Union antitrust regulators on Thursday said they welcomed a move by Amazon.com to end exclusivity obligations for the supply and distribution of audiobooks between the e-commerce giant and Apple. From a report: The European Commission, the EU's antitrust watchdog, said the exclusivity obligations required Apple to source only from Amazon's unit Audible and also required Audible not to supply other music digital platforms besides Apple's iTunes store. The agreement between the two companies, which was struck Jan. 5 2017, will improve competition in downloadable audiobook distribution in Europe, the EU said.

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[DontBeAMoran]

If Amazon destroyed Walmart, would you be happy?

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[Opportunist]

That would actually make breaking up these people and using that money to do something sensible a good idea...

wipe your ass sir?

[AndyKron]

$15/month to listen to someone read a fucking book. Really? I wonder how much people will pay to have their ass wiped after a good shit?

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[The-Ixian]

$15/month to listen to someone read a fucking book. Really? I wonder how much people will pay to have their ass wiped after a good shit?

That is worth $15/month easily...

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[JustAnotherOldGuy]

$15/month to listen to someone read a fucking book. Really? I wonder how much people will pay to have their ass wiped after a good shit?

That is worth $15/month easily...

If she was naked, really cute, and took her time, I might go to $20 a month for that.

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[Anonymous Coward]

Audiobooks let you enjoy novels where reading isnt practical. I have to commute an HOUR to an HOUR AND A HALF, EACH WAY from home to work and back! With Audiobooks, the drive is a little less mindless, and I can catch up on my reading in time that is otherwise wasted. Also, there are about 3.5 MILLION Americans who are legally blind. Don't you think they deserve to be able to "read" too? Just because YOU have no use for a service doesn't mean that applies to everyone else, bub!

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[tepples]

Also, there are about 3.5 MILLION Americans who are legally blind.

I thought blind people got subsidized audio books that play in specialized DAISY players [wikipedia.org], under the U.S. Books for the Blind program [wikipedia.org] and foreign counterparts.

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[Minupla]

I'd read a book, but people get SO upset when they see me with a paperback in my hand going down the freeway... Turns out they're OK with me listening to an audiobook instead.

Min

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[Atrox Canis]

$15/month to listen to someone read a fucking book. Really? I wonder how much people will pay to have their ass wiped after a good shit?

I listened to over 200 books in 2015 during my 2 hour daily round trip for work. I own well over 400 real books that I read over the years. I couldn't possibly have read 200 books with the little spare time I have so go stuff your mightier than thou attitude. And yeah, $15 a month for books that typically run about 15 hours at normal playback speed is a good deal for entertainment.