Amazon brings back Macmillan books on Kindle

Bangalore: The week long conflict between Amazon and Macmillan over the price of ebooks seems to be over. Details of the resolution have not been made public, but the restoration of Macmillan books to Amazon's site indicates a peaceful settlement was reached. "I am delighted to be back in business with Amazon," John Sargent, Chief Executive of Macmillan, said in an e-mail message, according to New York Times.

As it signaled last Sunday, Amazon had relented to requests from the major publishers to move from a wholesale model to an agency model, in which publishers sell e-books directly to consumers and pay retailers like Amazon and Apple a set 30 percent commission. The move allows publishers to raise e-book prices from the default $9.99 that Amazon had set for most new releases and best sellers to as much as $14.99.

It is possible that Amazon demanded Macmillan that no other e-book vendors get preferential access to new titles, or any kind of pricing advantages. Amazon may also have negotiated terms into its agreement with the publisher that would allow users of Kindles or Kindle software to lend e-books to each other.