Bookselling in ... Israel

       So now they've passed -- at least in a 'first reading' in the Knesset (so it's not the law of the land yet) -- a 'Law for the Protection of Literature and Authors' in Israel -- and guess what ! not everybody is happy about it !
       As Zvi Zrahiya and Adi Dovrat-Meseritz report in Haaretz, Publishers say book legislation is unfair.
       Since some of the publishers aren't just in bed with one of the two dominant book-chains but actually have ownership stakes -- notably Kinneret Zmora-Bitan -- that's a bit ... rich. As are their complaints:

Kinneret Zmora-Bitan said it supported the law in principle, but wants to remove three sections that harm competition between stores -- and harm consumers. One bans bookstores from favoring any specific publisher.

A second clause bans publishers from pushing sales via the book stores, and a third bars publishers from refusing to sell books to stores.

       Sound like pretty sensible, competition-enhancing (and hence consumer-serving) clauses to me .....