[Foundation-l] iBooks vs. wBooks?

[Stuart West]

I think the iBooks Author license agreement allows distribution outside Apple store, just not sale outside the Apple store.  So in some vaguely nefarious was I suppose it's akin to the NC side of a CC license.  Here's the relevant text:

> B. Distribution of your Work. As a condition of this License and provided you are in compliance with its terms, your Work may be distributed as follows:
> 
> (i) if your Work is provided for free (at no charge), you may distribute the Work by any available means;
> 
> (ii) if your Work is provided for a fee (including as part of any subscription-based product or service), you may only distribute the Work through Apple and such distribution is subject to the following limitations and conditions: (a) you will be required to enter into a separate written agreement with Apple (or an Apple affiliate or subsidiary) before any commercial distribution of your Work may take place; and (b) Apple may determine for any reason and in its sole discretion not to select your Work for distribution.

For those who care, there's an interesting meta analysis of the standards and legal issues at http://daringfireball.net/2012/01/ima_set_it_straight_this_watergate.

-s



 
On Jan 25, 2012, at 2:42 PM, Gerard Meijssen wrote:

> Hoi,
> The EULA currently in use prohibits the use of material that is offered
> anywhere except in the Apple store. They have also broken the mold of the
> standard. Consequently adopting the Apple model would technically support
> Apple devices.
> 
> Both reasons are enough not to use Apple at all in an education setting and
> for material available under a free license.
> Thanks,
>     Gerard
> 
> On 25 January 2012 23:12, Gregory Varnum <gregory.varnum at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> I'm confused by what you mean by "walled garden".  If this were the same
>> as the App Store model where they have a custom iOS app format and their
>> store is the only place to get it - that would make sense to me.  That
>> doesn't seem to be the case here..
>> 
>> My understanding was the ebooks created with iBook Author works in any
>> ebooks store that supports HTML5 standards.  I've been testing some ebooks
>> we threw together on lots of devices (almost all non-Apple) with no
>> problems.  We've even turned some of them into interactive web pages.
>> 
>> I haven't heard of this software breaking the current standard so much as
>> further enabling HTML5 within it - but I could be wrong.
>> 
>> -greg
>> 
>> 
>> On Jan 25, 2012, at 4:16 PM, Gerard Meijssen wrote:
>> 
>>> Hoi,
>>> I think we should not support Apple in breaking the standard and in
>>> preventing us from using our work anywhere else. We take pride in being
>>> freely licensed and there is no excuse for the walled garden approach
>> taken
>>> by Apple. There is also no excuse for us endorsing this behaviour.
>>> 
>>> Obviously as what we do is freely licensed or public domain you can do
>>> whatever as long as the license requirements are maintained. I am sure
>> that
>>> as a consequence you cannot legally publish in Apple's walled garden. I
>>> hate to see anything done in this area that is endorsed by the Wikimedia
>>> Foundation.
>>> Thanks,
>>>    Gerard
>>> 
>>> On 20 January 2012 10:46, Magnus Manske <magnusmanske at googlemail.com>
>> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> (This mail is focused on books, but the topic is of more general
>>>> interest IMHO, thus foundation-l)
>>>> 
>>>> Hi all,
>>>> 
>>>> I just saw the "iBooks Author" news:
>>>> 
>>>> 
>> http://www.macrumors.com/2012/01/19/a-closer-look-at-ibooks-author-textbooks-and-exclusivity/
>>>> 
>>>> Of course, all these pretty books will be only available in the Apple
>>>> paywalled garden.
>>>> 
>>>> So I thought: As they use basically HTML5 (plus a few proprietary
>>>> libraries), could we produce such interactive, tablet/phone-enabled
>>>> e-books ("wBooks" as in "Wikimedia":-) from free content? I believe
>>>> the answer is yes, though it might be quite a push technologically
>>>> (just to be clear, I am speaking of the books here, not of the
>>>> authoring software).
>>>> 
>>>> Also: Should we? I believe the answer is yes as well, for two reasons.
>>>> One, Apples work here might (yet again) set a new standard, which
>>>> means everything falling short of that standard will be neglected by
>>>> the target audience, which runs counter to our declared goal of
>>>> disseminating free knowledge; standing still might well mean falling
>>>> behind. Another reason is the opportunity that Apple creates for us
>>>> here: Once such e-books become accepted as general teaching tools in
>>>> schools, it will be much easier to switch from Apple-only, costly
>>>> books to run-everywhere, free books; they might just win the
>>>> "technology battle" for us.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> What do you think?
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Cheers,
>>>> Magnus
>>>> 
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