From Brave New World:
eBook Exchange aims to punch a hole in the ebook lending and potentially explore the used ebook market.
In principle it is setting itself up to be a social clearing house, linking ebook owners with ebook borrowers and promoting lending, reading, sharing and ultimately a second hand market in ebooks. Today it aims to accumulate borrowing request against a title until someone submits a contribution of $2 or more. A paid contribution secures a loan if the title is available. However the contribution is not mandatory and if no contributions are forthcoming, then eBook Exchange chooses who gets to borrow the book based on several factors, which all geared to a user’s history activity. Only one book at a time may be borrowed. However if you are contributing to eBook Exchange, you can borrow up to three books simultaneously.
An interesting idea. More details on the site.
They’re going to have to compete against the free lending sites and Facebook groups. I’m not sure why I’d want to pay $2 to get something through them that I could get for free elsewhere.
For that matter, lending might be doomed anyway. Once Kindle started offering lending, a number of the publishers suddenly withdrew from the program. Many NOOK owners are upset to find that most of their e-books that were lendable aren’t lendable any more, and they get the message “this title can’t be lent (lendBookOnClick: 2064)” if they try.
The only one of the ‘Big 6’ publishing houses still allowing lending is Macmillan. (Which I find bizarre since Macmillan’s against, and doesn’t permit, public library lending.) If Macmillan withdraws from the program, about all that’s left are some boutique and niche publishers, and self-published works.
Lending ebooks without the express permission of the copyright owner is illegal. Period.
Copyright owners and their representatives (lawyers and publishers) are already beginning to circle this site before taking it down so don’t waste your money by becoming a member.
This is a wonderful and very important site. It is essentially an infrastructure built on top of the existing facility being built into the Kindle and Nook.
IThis is an important site if for no other reason than to highlight and remind people across the world that the concept of lending is critical and important, and to remind them of the importance of the very concept of ownership. This is an important site in the campaign by ordinary readers against the outrageous claims by publishers that eBooks are being leased and not sold. This claim must be killed off once and for all and this site is doing it’s bit. Great news.