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Media group concerned about Apple subscription service (podcast)

Nina Link, CEO of the Association of Magazine Media, applauds Apple's and Google's efforts to bring revenue to her members but worries about Apple's policy of not passing on customer data by default.

Larry Magid
Larry Magid is a technology journalist and an Internet safety advocate. He's been writing and speaking about Internet safety since he wrote Internet safety guide "Child Safety on the Information Highway" in 1994. He is co-director of ConnectSafely.org, founder of SafeKids.com and SafeTeens.com, and a board member of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Larry's technology analysis and commentary can be heard on CBS News and CBS affiliates, and read on CBSNews.com. He also writes a personal-tech column for the San Jose Mercury News. You can e-mail Larry.
Larry Magid

On Tuesday, Apple announced a subscription service to allow magazines, newspapers, and other content providers to charge for content via Apple's App store. Apple will keep 30 percent of the revenue and will only pass on subscribers' personal information (name, e-mail address, and ZIP code) if the customer specifically allows it. By default, only Apple will have access to that information.

Nina Link MPA

On the following day, Google announced a rival service called Google One Pass which would take only 10 percent of the revenue and allow publishers to retain control over user data.

While happy about these potential sources of new readers and increased revenue, Nina Link, the CEO of the Association of Magazine Media, has some concerns about Apple's approach.

"Publishers have historically had relationships directly with the consumer and have access to data as they renew them year after year and as they offer them additional products that are targeted to their interests," she said in a podcast interview. But with Apple's service, "it now becomes Apple's relationship and Apple's data," which she described as "problematic for us."

Click below to hear the entire interview.

Podcast


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