Paper books might be in trouble, but e-books?
The paper book market, hard or soft cover, might be in trouble but the e-book business is doing fine.
Jobs tried price-fixing the market and the US 'justice' system quickly knocked him down, witnessed by the number of book companies who signed settlements with US government. The big stiff was wrong again.
Ever since MS started 'renting; the software you bought, more and more vendors got the impression they could do this for all manner of things. Apple does it with cell handsets.
As others have stated, when I pay money to receive a 'good', regardless of what anyone or anything thing says, as far as I am concerned that 'good' is my property. Why doesn't MS demand the return of all the millions of floppies and CD's it has 'rented' out?
Likewise with e-books, what is the end difference if I read a 'Kindle' book in it's original format or use one of those format changers to adapt the 'good' in to a format convenient for me.
In Canada, the rent-an-ebook scheme run by many libraries is so convenient and 'green'. Using my library card on the other side of the world I can download/reserve thousands of titles. If my work schedule prevents me from finishing reading, a simple pass through software converts the format and another library user can read it.
Of course, in the UK, libraries are being shut down as Cameron's cut and slash policy takes hold, but titles could be offered in many formats without harming the author, or the greedy publisher.