Japanese Publishers Lash Out at Amazon's Policies

Nate the greatest writes: Amazon is in a bitter contract fight Hachette in the US and Bonnier in Germany, and now it seems the retail giant is also in conflict with publishers in the land of the rising sun. Amazon has launched a new rating system in Japan which gives publishers with larger ebook catalogs (and publishers that pay higher fees) preference, leading some to complain that Amazon is using its market power to blackmail publishers. Where have we heard that complaint before?

The retailer is also being boycotted by a handful of Japanese publishers which disagree with Amazon offering a rewards program to students. The retailer gives students 10 percent of a book's price as points which can be used to buy more books. This skirts Japanese fixed price book laws, and so several smaller publishers pulled their books from Amazon in protest in May.

I know that businesses are out to make money and not friends, but Amazon sure is a lightning rod for conflicts, isn't it?