Amazon.com Announces Plans for Innovative Digital Book Programs That Will Enable Customers to Purchase Online Access to Any Page, Section, or Chapter of a Book, as Well as the Book in Its Entirety

The first program, Amazon Pages, will "un-bundle" thephysical-world experience of buying and reading a book so thatcustomers can simply and inexpensively purchase and read online justthe pages they need. For example, an entrepreneur interested inmarketing his or her business could purchase the relevant chaptersfrom several best-selling business books.

The second program, Amazon Upgrade, will allow customers to"upgrade" their purchase of a physical book on Amazon.com to includecomplete online access. For example, a software developer who buys aJava programming book will not only get the physical book delivered tohis or her home, but will also get 24x7 Web access to the completeinterior text of the book. Buy a cookbook and you will not only haveit on your shelf, but also be able to access it anywhere via the Web.

"Amazon Pages and Amazon Upgrade leverage Amazon's existing SearchInside the Book technology to give customers unusual flexibility inhow they buy and read books," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO,Amazon.com. "In collaboration with our publishing partners, we'reworking hard to make the world's books instantly accessible anytimeand anywhere."

"It is important for the publishing community to explore newbusiness models for digital delivery that compensate publishers andauthors fairly. We look forward to working together with Amazon asthey develop these innovative new programs to expand the market fordigital content," said John Sargent, CEO, Holtzbrinck Publishers.

Amazon launched Search Inside the Book two years ago, for thefirst time allowing customers to find and discover books by searchingthe text inside them. The program has grown substantially since then,and today, one out of two books sold in the U.S. by Amazon.com are inAmazon's Search Inside the Book program. Based on the success of theprogam in the U.S., Amazon has recently launched Search Inside theBook in the U.K., Germany, France, Canada and Japan.

Publishers interested in participating in Amazon Pages or AmazonUpgrade can contact digitalbooks@amazon.com.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc., a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, openedon the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's BiggestSelection. Amazon.com seeks to be Earth's most customer-centriccompany, where customers can find and discover anything they mightwant to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowestpossible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of uniquenew, refurbished and used items in categories such as beauty, healthand personal care, jewelry and watches, gourmet food, sports andoutdoors, apparel and accessories, books, music, DVDs, electronics andoffice, toys and baby, and home and garden.

Amazon.com and its affiliates operate seven retail Web sites:www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.fr,www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.ca, and www.joyo.com.

As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar termsinclude Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the contextindicates otherwise.

Forward Looking Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within themeaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21Eof the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differsignificantly from management's expectations. These forward-lookingstatements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others,risks related to potential future losses, significant amount ofindebtedness, competition, management of growth, potentialfluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomesof legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization,seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions, and strategictransactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, consumertrends, inventory, limited operating history, government regulationand taxation, fraud, and new business areas. More information aboutfactors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial resultsis included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and ExchangeCommission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the yearended December 31, 2004, and all subsequent filings.