The options outside [the ebook publishing] ecosystems or closed networks have been few. But now we are beginning to see the emergence of a third network that imposes fewer constraints on its participants. It is difficult to put a name to this ecosystem because its leadership is distributed, but it has now begun to draw into its orbit such organizations as O’Reilly Media, Pearson, Barnes & Noble, and Microsoft. It is the nature of this network that it can bring in more and more participants because the ecosystem itself is designed not to be controlled by a single authority but to permit, even to evangelize for, as broad a participation as possible. …

“Several years ago O’Reilly Media came up with the idea for a subscription-based e-book service for computer books. The O’Reilly organization approached the market leader in technical books, Pearson, and the two companies created a joint venture called Safari. Safari now includes the technical publications of most computer-book publishers in the U.S. The CEO of Safari is Andrew Savikas, a former O’Reilly executive.” Source: Joseph Esposito, The Scholarly Kitchen