New Electronic-Book Standard Set for Approval by End of Month

=0A= August 16, 1999=0A=	=0A= =0A=
=0A= =0A=

New Electronic-Book Standard
=0A= Set for Approval by End of Month

By JOHN G. SPOONER=0A=
ZD Network=0A= News
=0A=

Electronic books are nearing a sea change, as a new standard for = e-book=0A= content is about to reach approval.

The Open eBook initiative is expected to announce the ratification = of=0A= its Open eBook Publication Structure 1.0, a standard for developing = content=0A= for electronic books, at the Seybold 21st Century Publishing Seminar in = San=0A= Francisco at the end of this month.

Several sources close to the development of the standard, called = Open=0A= eBook for short, are optimistic that the draft will be approved by a = vote=0A= of the Open eBook Consortium before its Aug. 20 deadline.

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The Open eBook standard, they said, will help the nascent e-book = market=0A= grow up without a standards clash like the VHS vs. Betamax battle, = which=0A= stalled the market for video cassette recorders in the 1980s.

Right now, e-books have to be created for specific platforms. One=0A= formatted for one of NuvoMedia Inc.'s RocketBooks e-books, for = example,=0A= would not be readable on another e-book reader.

One Format, Many Books

The specification's basic goal is to allow the diverse ranks of = hardware=0A= developers, publishers, authors and readers to settle on one way of=0A= creating, formatting and annotating e-books.

Using a combination of HTML and XML, the standard includes = provisions=0A= that define a file format, a transmission format, markup format for=0A= formatting and a rights certificate, which shows ownership of the = e-book,=0A= sources familiar with the standard said.

"It's a good thing for the market. This will solve, for the most = part,=0A= the issue of what to develop your book in," said David Schargel, = president=0A= of Aportis Technologies Corp., a software developer of PalmPilot and=0A= electronic book applications. Aportis is evaluating the Open eBook=0A= standard. However, added Mr. Schargel, "it might make things harder = for=0A= publishers, meaning hardware developers -- it will force them to=0A= differentiate."

That's the one thing the 100-member Open eBook Initiative is = aiming=0A= for.

Looking for Portability

"We are working on a standard that will ensure interoperability = and=0A= portability of content over a number of electronic reading systems," = said=0A= Victor McCrary, chairman of the Open eBook Initiative Consortium, a = group=0A= of about 100 companies that is working to author the standard.

Mr. McCrary's day job is with the U.S. Government's National = Institute=0A= for Standards and Technology's High Performance Systems Division. NIST = is=0A= helping facilitate the creation of the standard. He wouldn't offer=0A= additional comment on the Open eBook standard, but did say more = information=0A= would become available at the end of the month.

Those working on the standard include Microsoft Corp., e-book = makers=0A= NuvoMedia, EveryBook Inc., Glassbook Inc., Librius Inc. and SoftBook = Press=0A= Inc.; publishers such as Houghton Mifflin Co.; and book sellers, = including=0A= Barnes & Noble Inc.

"This is a good example of the industry really working together," = Mr.=0A= McCrary added.

The consortium's goal is to bring the Open eBook standard as close = to=0A= XML as possible. It will, however, take a few years to reach that = point,=0A= allowing time for hardware designs to catch up.

Current e-book designs use processors that are not powerful enough = to=0A= render XML code, according to sources familiar with the Open eBook=0A= standard.

No Encryption

While the standard should have everyone on the same page, it does = have=0A= at least one drawback.

"Open eBook does not encrypt documents. That's up to somebody to = fill in=0A= to make sure [e-books] are protected. I think it's one of the things = that=0A= scares publishers from the notion of the e-book," Mr. Schargel = said.

Security -- namely, protecting authors' and publishers' copyrights = -- is=0A= an important issue in e-books' development.

"It's one thing for publishers to use a single format for = distribution,=0A= but what are you going to see when you get to Amazon.com? Is it going = to=0A= say download eBook? No. It's going to say download book for=0A= fill-in-the-blank platform, because of the security issue," Mr. = Schargel=0A= said.

But somebody is working to lend security to electronic books.

Help Is on the Way

Glassbook Inc., a Waltham, Mass., e-book development company, is=0A= championing an encryption standard called Electronic Book Exchange, or = EBX,=0A= for e-books, according to a source familiar with the technology.

EBX, which is nearing preliminary-draft form, addresses encryption = of=0A= documents, as well as other issues such as loaning or giving another = person=0A= an e-book. The technology covers Open eBook, HTML, XML and PDF = formats,=0A= among others, the source said.