[not_that_noob]

One thing not mentioned here - if the iPad launched without HC titles, and the iPad became a hit (which was unclear at the time of this negotiation), then customers would have an incentive to put pirated HC content onto the device. A few sophisticated customers would have figured it out, and then that knowledge would have spread. Even if Murdoch later succeeded in getting pricing flexibility from Apple at a subsequent date, it would be a pyrrhic victory, as many customers would have been trained on how to do it for free.

So HC had a lot to lose. And Steve knew it - all he had to do was to let Murdoch know that he Steve knew.

It's good to have a good hand.

[mhaymo]

This was mentioned. In Jobs' last email, this was the 3rd option he saw for HC:

> 3. Hold back your books from Amazon. Without a way for customers to buy your ebooks, they will steal them. This will be the start of piracy and once started there will be no stopping it. Trust me, I’ve seen this happen with my own eyes.