Penguin Not as Cool as Radiohead

Just a month after the eMusic shindig announcing the addition of ebooks to their site, Penguin has decided to back out of the arrangement. According to PW

In other Penguin news, the New York Times reported today that the publisher has pulled out of its deal with eMusic to sell its audio titles through the online music retailer. Penguin Audio publisher Dick Heffernan told the paper that the issue came down to fears about piracy, since eMusic, unlike rival iTunes, sells its titles without the DRM software that prevents files from being copied.

“Fears about piracy” . . . At a time when Radiohead is using an “honor system” and literally giving away its new CD, Penguin is concerned about the possibility that the kids will be swapping non-DRM version of the new Alan Greenspan book. Really?

More importantly—did anyone at Penguin take 10 seconds to read the eMusic About Us page before signing the initial agreement? Was it really a surprise that the audiobook were DRM-free just like all other files available from eMusic?

This is the best quote though:

David Pakman, CEO of eMusic, pointed to the fact that the company had hired a piracy monitoring firm to allay concerns about piracy from publishers. The outside firm, BayTSP, has, he said, found no instance of audiobook files from eMusic cropping up on file-sharing sites.

Shocking.