Fairbanks, Alaska--Thursday, April 1 2004. Project Gutenberg today announced that it had reached an agreement with the Amazon.com (AMZN) Board of Directors to purchase Amazon.com for an undisclosed amount. The purchase is subject to regulatory review and stockholder approval, and is expected to close in early June 2004.
"We are pleased with this new development in the history of free electronic books or eBooks," said Dr. Gregory Newby, Chief Executive of the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, which has legal and fiduciary oversight for Project Gutenberg's operations. "While some people might question the ability of existing Project Gutenberg staff to oversee the Amazon.com operation, I can tell you that we have great faith in our many volunteers, as well as some new ideas for automation," he said.
The future of Amazon.com under the Project Gutenberg brand name and trademark is being addressed by both parties. It is expected that the strengths of each will be combined, with Project Gutenberg continuing to focus on digitizing and giving away free literature, while Amazon.com emphasizes speedy home delivery of cutting-edge products such as the BodyBow. Existing Amazon.com-branded items such as the Amazon.com Visa Card will be re-branded to reflect the Project Gutenberg name and the famous "Gutenberg Printing Press with CD" image.
Amazon.com Directors were upbeat about this development. "This is the obvious next step in our evolution," said Jeffrey P. Bezos, President and Chairman of the Amazon.com Board. "After demonstrated success in the online marketplace, with numerous expansions and acquisitions, the Board of Directors agreed that our next step was to get involved in giving away free electronic literature. We immediately contacted Project Gutenberg, with the outcome we are announcing today."
The vision of Bezos and others at Amazon.com resulted in an innovative sales strategy to supplement paper-based books with online pictures of books. These pictures, which utilize innovative Web-based technologies to prevent their utilization, provided an experience which many people found similar to reading.
Michael S. Hart, Founder of Project Gutenberg, thought the Amazon.com online experience was enticing. "When I invented the eBook in 1971, I immediately saw the promise of a personal library on a computer that costs almost nothing to store, yet gives readers full ability to utilize online literature in any way they please. Who knew that only 32 years later a company would discover how to provide capabilities that seem to have all the benefits of eBooks, but in fact have none?" Hart will remain with Project Gutenberg in his official capacity as Chief Jedi.
Under the sales agreement, Newby will lead the new company, with Bezos and others from the Amazon.com team to remain in advisory capacities. One of the first tasks will be to integrate the volunteer-driven Project Gutenberg culture with the commerce-driven Amazon.com culture. "In order to join the forces of these powerful teams," Newby said, "one our first exercises will be to reinvent Amazon.com as a volunteer organization." He said the second step would be to engage Amazon.com in the Project Gutenberg effort to "Break Down The Bars Of Illiteracy and Ignorance" by channeling inventory to those who need it most. He said, "we're going to give it all away."
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