Netherlands: Dutch E-Book Resale Site Has To Close For Now, Court Rules

From Loek Essers at PC World:

Dutch ebook resale site Tom Kabinet has to close because, at least at the moment, it cannot prove that all the books offered for sale on the site have been legally obtained, an Amsterdam court ruled Tuesday.
Tom Kabinet, which allows sellers to upload ebook files to the site, has been online since June last year. It asks sellers to verify that the ebooks being uploaded were legally obtained, via a declaration in which they also state that they will erase their copy after the upload. That, however, is not enough, according to a court.”
“…if Tom Kabinet manages to take measures sufficient to exclude illegally obtained ebooks from its website, it can ask the court to lift the ban, according to the ruling. The site has to comply with the verdict within three days, and if it violates the ruling, it has to pay a penalty of €1,000 (US$1,160) per day, up to a maximum of €300,000, the court ruled.”

Read the Complete Article (570 Words)
See Also: Comment from Dutch Publishers Association (in Dutch)
Mechanical Translation Into English via Google Translate (Caveat Emptor)
UPDATE Additional English Language Coverage from NL Times

Filed under: Companies (Publishers/Vendors), News