From: Joseph Esposito <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 30 May 2012 14:27:03 -0700

No, it couldn't.  NDAs make it possible to tailor deals for special
players, most typically smaller customers or customers with an unusual
profile.  The absence of NDAs telegraphs to other publishers what
competitors' terms are.  There is thus little reason to better them.
So the absence of NDAs results in standardization across the industry
to support the terms for the most profitable customers.

Having said this, I assume that NDAs are on the way out.  It's a
shame, but transparency is a religion.

Joe Esposito


> From: Rick Anderson <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Tue, 29 May 2012 19:52:10 +0000
>
> >Phil doesn't go far enough.  NDAs lower prices and increase
> >flexibility.  It's also the right thing to do.  In the absence of
> >them, every publisher sees the terms of every other publisher, which
> >leads to rigid standardization.
>
> Joe, couldn't the absence of NDAs lead equally easily to competitive
> pressure that will benefit the customer? If a publisher says to me "You're
> getting an unusually great deal on this package, but you can't tell anyone
> you're getting it," then I have no way of knowing whether I'm actually
> getting a better deal, or a worse deal, or an average deal. But if I can
> check with my colleagues at similar institutions and find out what kind of
> deal they're getting, then I have a real basis on which to judge. Without
> that ability, I have to simply take the seller's word for it. That may
> give the seller more flexibility, but I'm not sure it's a kind of
> flexibility that benefits anyone except the seller.
>
> Of course, these questions are complicated by the absence of meaningful
> competition in the realm of journal and book selling. Copyrighted content
> is available from only one source--the copyright holder or licensed
> agent--so it's not like price competition works the same way it does when
> you buy a wrench or a gallon of milk. The same goes for competition in the
> area of access terms; if my faculty are screaming for access to Biology
> Journal X and have no interest in Biology Journal Y, then the fact that
> Journal Y offers better access terms isn't going to affect my purchase
> choice very much. So maybe NDAs are really a moot point.
>
> Rick Anderson
> Acting Dean, J. Willard Marriott Library
> University of Utah
> [log in to unmask]