Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury enters download era

Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury moved into the digital era on Tuesday, launching its first 24 digital downloads after a year in which the boy wizard helped boost profits by 24 percent.

"Our first 24 titles went up an hour ago, and it’s a very exciting initiative because although its not a big area now, it will be in the future," Chairman Nigel Newton told Reuters. "We want to stake out our territory," he added.

Newton criticized Google Inc.’s incursion into the publishing arena. "Google I do have a problem with, as they’re giving away segments of books for free," he said. "That’s why we launched our download initiative today, to show that books can be paid for on the Internet, not given away for free."

Reuters