The New York Times is reporting that Sony will be selling ebooks for their reader in the open ePub format only. This means that they will also be scrapping "proprietary anticopying software in favor of technology from the software maker Adobe that restricts how often e-books can be shared or copied."
This means that books purchased after the change will be able to be read on a variety of other ereaders, opening up options for consumers.
“There is going to be a proliferation of different reading devices, with different features and capabilities and prices for a different set of consumer requirements,” said Steve Haber, president of Sony’s digital reading unit. “If people are going to this e-book shopping mall, they are going to want to shop at all the stores, and not just be required to shop at one store.”
Sony opening up to a common standard creates a very different playing field in the ebooks market. As Charlie mentioned last week Sony just came out with a cheaper version of its ereader, and the Times suggests that a reader with wireless capability is also on its way. It seems the ebook wars are far from over.
(Thanks to GallyCat for the tip)
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