Amazon, Random Unveil New Pay Scheme

“About one month after reports began to surface that Amazon was developing a pay-per-view program for reading books online, the company unveiled Amazon Pages, a program that will let consumers view parts of a book online for a fee. Amazon provided no details on how it will price the service and no major publishers have yet agreed to be part of the program. In a second initiative, the e-tailer announced Amazon Upgrade, which will allow customers who buy a print book to also buy access to the work online. For its part, Random has put its stake in the ground about how it expects to be compensated for books that are viewed online.”