The perfect mating

Borders + Yahoo

Occasionally, I try to solve the business world's problems, and if I can stick it to Amazon at the same time, well, that's all right with me.

Last night, I was seething --as I often do-- about the problem of certain Yahoogroups that persistently infringe copyright, and that YAHOO refuses to remove despite the OCILLA issues. However, writers, authors, readers all love Yahoogroups.

We booklovers love Yahoogroups! If only Yahoo saw the competitive advantage in being ethical!

Copyright infringement is a huge and growing problem. Facebook, Twitter, Google follow the law, more or less, but they are not exactly proactive about it.

What if readers could trust that "IF IT IS ON YAHOO, IT IS LEGAL"? (This isn't the case right now, but it could be. Authors would be delighted to help Yahoo clean up the few rotters among its groups, if it wanted to do so.)

Amazon doesn't allow freelance authors to give away free e-books and free novellas on Amazon's DTP platform. Yahoo could. Why doesn't Yahoo look into it? "IF IT IS ON YAHOO, IT IS LEGAL".

Borders is another company that, from a stock market perspective, appears to be struggling. It, too, is a 'ME TOO'.

But, what if Borders and Yahoo got together?

Yahoo has the platforms and the booklovers yahoogroups, and the languishing search engine, and the Yahoo Answers. Borders still has the bookstores, and the contacts with publishers, and the name, and the good will, and the payment structure.

Do you think that a Borders-Yahoo match-up could provide real competition for AMAZON?

Borders+Yahoo could be a rival for Amazon and Shelfari, and EBay/PayPal.

Borders+Yahoo could transform the bricks and mortar stores into fantastic, book-related internet cafes, and if they worked with NCR, they could do download/POD right there in the stores, and avoid enriching the Post Office.

What do you think?