The traditionally strong culture of domestic ownership of much of Canada’s media could be in for a shake-up if Amazon.com earns federal approval to start a new business in the country.

It has applied to Heritage Canada for a licence to operate in the country which, if approved, would see the U.S. online retailer establish its own fulfillment business there.

Since 2002, Amazon has used Canada Post for product delivery to service a Amazon.ca, a Canadian version of its U.S. website.

Federal approval is needed if Amazon is to be able to establish a physical base in Canada, including offices and warehouses. Establishing a physical presence there would oblige Amazon to adopt measures to support the Canadian book trade to indicate “net benefits” to the local industry from Amazon.com operating in the country.

The Canadian Booksellers Association, representing local book retailers, failed in 2002 in a legal bid to stop Amazon.com from operating in Canada.

The Canadian authorities ruled that the Investment Canada Act did not apply to Amazon.com, despite existing laws aiming to protect the Canadian book industry from foreign competition, as long as it operated without a physical presence in the country.

Beyond book-selling, Canada also regulates foreign investment in its telecoms and broadcasting sectors, both of which also face changing foreign ownership rules and landscapes.

In March 2010, the conservative government signaled it would look to facilitate more foreign investment in these areas.

Online retailer Amazon has severed its ties with affiliate businesses in Colorado following the introduction of a new state tax.

Affiliates help online retailers by passing on customers through adverts and links on their own website. In return they are paid a percentage of any resulting sales. Amazon announced yesterday it would no longer offer these businesses a fee for finding leads.

The decision relates to a new state law in Colorado which was passed in February. According to a report by the Associated Press, the law means online retailers now have to start collecting sales taxes from customers, or remind customers on an annual basis they need to pay a sales tax on their purchases.

Although the new law was amended to remove links between affiliates and the sales tax, Amazon has decided to cut ties with these businesses regardless.

A statement released by the governor of Colorado, Bill Ritter, said the decision taken by Amazon was “disappointing” and “completely unjustified”.

He said: “While Amazon is blaming a new state law for its action, the fact is that Amazon is simply trying to avoid compliance with Colorado law and is unfairly punishing Colorado businesses in the process.”

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In a bid to head off competition from Apple's new i-Pad, Amazon has teamed up with BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion (RiM) to offer free access through Kindle to a huge library of books.

More than 420,000 titles are expected to be available through the free ‘Kindle for Blackberry’ app which will be available through all major US mobile carriers.

The move is the result of customer demand, according to Ian Freed, Amazon Kindle’s Vice-President: “Since the launch of our popular Kindle for iPhone app last year, customers have been asking us to bring a similar experience to the BlackBerry,” he said.

Publishers have reacted strongly to Amazon aggressively pricing many of its electronic versions of book titles, in an effort to build demand for the Kindle reader. They say that this has meant payments due to them being squeezed.

Most of the books available through Kindle for BlackBerry are retailing at US$9.99.

Anyone who has splashed out US$259 or its local currency equivalent for a Kindle e-reader might be pleased to learn that the British Library is to give them plenty of chances to get their money’s worth.

It’s reported by Techwatch that 65,000 classic volumes in English are to be made available on the device, including classic works by Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Jane Austen, and other 19^th-century authors whose works are now free from copyright.

The library intends to make the books available for free over the next couple of months.

It is also reported that these e-book versions will be published in their original typefaces and with the original illustrations, so they will be truly authentic.

Microsoft is reported to have offered to fund the project.

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Online retailer Amazon has reportedly acquired US technology firm Touchco.

The New York-based start-up company, a spin out from New York University, specialises in touch-screen technology.

Industry commentators believe combining Touchco’s multi-touch technology with Amazon’s popular Kindle e-reader would create a device which could directly compete with Apple’s new iPad.

A report by the New York Times quoted a source familiar with the deal, who said Amazon will merge Touchco’s technology and staff into its Kindle hardware division, based in Cupertino, California.

The paper said Touchco’s technology works well with LED screens such as those used by the iPad. It uses resistors which are sensitive to varying levels of pressure and can distinguish between a finger and the tip of a pen for example.

Both Amazon and Touchco have declined to comment. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Authors and publishers of 'bargain' books available for viewing on Amazon's Kindle e-reader are to get a greater share of the royalties from each sale.

The new agreement, which will be effective from June 30, will reward the author and publisher of every book contained in the e-retailer’s discount books programme with 70 per cent of each book’s list price, net of delivery costs.

The reward structure will apply to books retailing for between US$2.99 and US$9.99 (GBP1.83-6.13) on the starting date. The higher royalty rate will only be paid on sales of ‘virtual’ books whose list price is at least 20 per cent less than the lowest listed price for the paper version of the same book.

The Amazon Kindle e-reader has been a big best-seller for the e-retailer, and was one of the most popular gifts of Christmas 2009 in the US. However, it faces tough competition from similar devices being marketed by Sony and US trade bookseller Barnes & Noble.

Authors typically get between seven and 15 per cent of the list price for their physical books, or 25 per cent of the net proceeds publishers get from retailers for their digital books, Russ Grandinetti, vice president of Kindle Content, said.

The statement did not specify what the current royalty rates are for books targeted by Amazon’s new programme.

But technology and telecoms experts at ITProPortal said the deal could have wider, worldwide consequences for the book trade, in potentially heralding the end of staggered release dates for books in different countries. “Publishers will have to make the books available worldwide or face being kicked out (of the Kindle programme)”, said Desire Athow, a T&T specialist for the website.

It is also believed that only books currently sold in the UK, still in copyright and out of the public domain will be covered. Publishers wishing to take part in the programme are also expected to have to ensure that they support Kindle-only features, such as text to speech functionality.

Online retailer Amazon has announced it is to start making applications available through its Kindle e-reader.

The company said it plans to release tools to allow software designers to develop their own apps, according to a report by Reuters.

Amazon is using the same strategy adopted by Apple following the launch of its app store, which now gives users access to a massive selection of games and tools. An estimated 50 million people now own Apple products such as the iPhone and iPod touch and demand for applications is only expected to increase.

After Christmas, Amazon said sales were strong for its Kindle devices, but would not release figures. Industry analysts believe new products expected to launch this year will increase competition in the e-reader market place, with booksellers forced to lower prices to retain a competitive edge.

The report by Reuters said applications for the Kindle could include travel books “which suggest activities based on real-time weather and current events” along with “cookbooks that recommend menus based on the size of party and guest allergies”.

Microsoft has no plans to develop a digital book reader to compete with the fast-growing popularity of Amazon's Kindle or a device that rival Apple is reportedly developing.

Chief executive Steve Ballmer said Microsoft had no need for its own e-reader, since it already supplies the software that runs the most popular device for electronic reading.

“We have a device for reading. It’s the most popular device in the world. It’s the PC,” Ballmer told Reuters while recording a television appearance at Erasmus University in the Netherlands.

The leading software maker’s Windows operating system runs nine out 10 of the world’s personal computers.

Ballmer also said Microsoft would also be willing to work with Amazon to bring more books to the personal computer, days after the online retailer vastly expanded its Kindle reading device’s global footprint to 100 countries.

“I would love to see companies like Amazon and others bring their books to the PC,” Ballmer said. “Hopefully we can get that to happen with Barnes & Noble or Amazon or somebody,” Ballmer said.

“But we are not interested in e-readers ourselves.”

E-readers are expected to be a massively popular gift this Christmas, and industry research firm Forrester has hiked its forecast for American. e-reader sales by 50 per cent to 3 million units.

Apple is reportedly developing a new device that can work as a digital reader, and technology watchers had speculated that Microsoft was considering such a move.

The software maker already markets its Microsoft Reader for PC-based book reading and supports tablet PCs.

The launch of Amazon's Kindle e-book reader was sure to be a hot topic among those attending the world's biggest book trade fair in Frankfurt, Germany.

It is believed that the new device could herald a long-feared transformation of the industry for which few are well prepared.

Lower prices, rising consumer confidence and better distribution outside the United States are all sure to boost the Kindle’s sales over the key Christmas period.

Like the music and newspaper industries before it, the book-publishing world now faces vanishing revenues as sales of physical discs, papers and books give way to far cheaper or free digital distribution, comments Reuters.

“Meantime, publishers are distracting themselves by fretting over the price of eBooks, withholding eBook releases so as not to cannibalise hardcover book sales, and watching helplessly as their businesses erode in front of them,” analyst Sarah Rotman Epps of technology research firm Forrester wrote.

Forrester estimates 3 million e-readers will be sold in the United States this year and double that number next year, taking the total sold to 10 million by the end of 2010 — excluding other digital screens, such as phones and PCs.

There are exceptions in the book industry to the general lack of enthusiasm for all things digital.

America’s leading bookseller, Barnes & Noble, is expected to launch its own ereader soon, which would provide strong competition to the Kindle and Sony’s reader in the market for book-sized screens that grab and display text from the web.

The top U.S. bookstore chain — America’s first bookseller to advertise on television in the 1970s and also the first to discount books — already has the world’s largest online bookstore, which it launched in July.

Barnesandnoble.com sells most of its new releases as ebooks for $9.99, the same as Amazon, and far cheaper than the physical versions in most cases. At launch it had over 700,000 titles readable on a variety of devices like Apple’s iPhone.

The company has declined to comment on reports it will soon sell its own wireless touchscreen reading device. “We believe readers should have access to books in their digital library from any device, anywhere and at any time,” a spokeswoman said.

Google’s project to scan all the world’s books and make them available online has so far encompassed 10 million books through agreements with libraries and publishers, but it has made enemies along the way by scanning library books without always gaining prior permission from the rights holders.

Now Google seems to be on the verge of settling a mammoth lawsuit with U.S. publishers. A final court hearing takes place on November 9 on the settlement, which would entail Google helping to set up a books registry to track down and pay rights holders.

The rest of the world — especially France and Germany — continues largely to view Google with suspicion. The company is sending its top lawyer to Frankfurt to engage once again with the industry.

Google argues it can help publishers and authors by enabling readers to find works online, especially those that are out of print. For books still in copyright, Google displays text snippets in answer to search queries, and details of retailers.

“Books that were previously out of print will come back to life,” Santiago de la Mora, Google’s head of European print partnerships, said. “There are 1.8 billion Internet users. I’m pretty sure you can find readers for everything.”

But initial supplies will be shipped from US

British book fanatics will soon be able to get their hands on Amazon’s popular Kindle electronic book reader, after the company unveiled an international version of the gadget.

Amazon boss Jeff Bezos said the Kindle will be available worldwide on October 19, selling through the company’s American website and shipping to the UK for $279 (£175) - although import duties will take the final price to around £200.

Although customers will have to order from the United States for the time being, Bezos said in a note to British customers on Amazon.co.uk that the gadget would eventually be sold through the company’s British outlet.

“In the future, we plan to introduce a UK-centric Kindle experience, enabling you to purchase Kindle and Kindle books in sterling from our Amazon.co.uk site,” he said.

The Kindle offers readers the chance to carry up to 1,500 books simultaneously, read them on a six-inch electronic ink screen and use the built-in wireless access – now compatible with Europe’s 3G networks – to browse catalogues and download books without plugging into a computer.

The device became a surprise hit after it went on sale in the US just under two years ago. A second, more popular version was launched earlier this year to much acclaim, and experts suggest that Amazon has sold hundreds of thousands in America alone.

Despite the enthusiastic reception, however, plans to take the Kindle worldwide soon became bogged down in negotiations with mobile networks, which provide the wireless connection that allows the gadget to download new material over the air.

A string of reports had suggested that an announcement could be made to coincide with the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair, the publishing industry’s biggest event. However, the American internet retailer jumped the gun by making an announcement a week before Frankfurt – and with some unexpected details.

An Amazon spokesman confirmed that instead of negotiating individual deals with mobile operators, the company has instead linked up with American telecoms giant AT&T, which works alongside a number of partner networks in 100 countries around the globe.

“We have millions of customers in countries all over the world who read English-language books,” Bezos said in a statement. “Kindle enables these customers to think of a book and download it wirelessly in less than 60 seconds.”

A number of publishers have enthusiastically embraced the growth of electronic books, and said that they were looking forward to expanding readership internationally.

“We are delighted to be extending that successful partnership to the rest of the world,” said John Makinson, the chief executive of Penguin. “The publishing industry is experiencing explosive growth in digital book sales in the US, and we hope to stimulate digital buying elsewhere by making our content widely available on new devices.”

The Kindle has also provided a new outlet for a number of British newspapers, with the Times, Telegraph and the Daily Mail – but not the Guardian – offering subscriptions to read digitally.

But although the Kindle has been widely regarded as a success – single-handedly sparking fresh interest in the medium of electronic books – its progress has not been entirely smooth.

In summer 2009 Amazon came under fire after it deleted books bought by Kindle users after the company mistakenly allowed digital copies of the George Orwell books Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm to be sold by a publisher who did not have the rights to do so. Despite the fact that customers bought the books without any knowledge that they were breaching copyright, Amazon secretly removed the infringing copies from their Kindles without prior notice and then refunded them the cost of purchase.

The episode caused an outcry among readers and online rights campaigners, who said that Amazon’s actions showed “a big disconnect” between companies and consumers.

Bezos made a public apology soon after, calling the move “stupid”, but the story only came to an end when the company settled a lawsuit related to the deletions.