mickey疯了

Amazon owns 41 percent of all book sales and 67 percent of all e-book sales mainly because it offers lower prices. But the e-commerce company came under fire in late 2014 when Amazon and the publishing house Hachette faced off over who should set the price for e-books. The debate raises questions about Amazon's growing place in the market, the changing role of publishers and the value of books in our society.

Advocates of Amazon say that the company is the reader's friend because it makes it cheaper and more convenient for people to access books, which are important cultural artifacts. Amazon does hold a large share of the market, but it has huge competitors in Apple and Google. Amazon is better for the reader, they say, because it offers a superior product, the Kindle, and it offers it at low prices.

Opponents say that Amazon is able to charge lower prices because it does not operate on a level playing field. The company sold e-books at a loss in order to promote the Kindle, stifling competition and moving the market away from physical books. This forced thousands of bookstores out of business. Finally, opponents say that when Amazon's share price dropped last year, the company squeezed its suppliers – publishers, authors and readers – which led to the dispute with Hachette.

At the latest event from Intelligence Squared, two teams addressed these questions while debating the motion, "Amazon Is The Reader's Friend."

Before the debate at the Kaufman Music Center in New York, 41 percent of the audience voted in favor of the motion and 28 percent voted against, with 31 percent undecided. After the debate, 42 percent favored the motion, and 50 percent disagreed, making the side arguing against the motion "Amazon Is The Reader's Friend" the winner of this debate.