Buying books one page at a time.

• Position: THE WEB

Trying to do for books what itunes has done for music, Amazon and Google are both developing systems to allow users to buy and download any page, section, or chapter of a book. But there is already controversy among publishers, authors, and online vendors about the idea--and how to split the proceeds. Trade groups representing authors and publishers say Google has violated copyright laws by making digital copies of books from Libraries available online. But if copies of older books, long...