According to the Joint Study of section 1201(g) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act the ebook was advanced to "facilitate the robust development and world-wide expansion of electronic commerce, communications, research, development, and education in the digital age."

In essence this document points to the fact that the ebook as we are seeing it today was designed as a means of deriving profit, facilitating an exchange of ideas, and providing an educational resource in an electronic environment.

The notable exception to this description is the word 'marketing'. What many may not have considered at the time the Digital Millennium Copyright Act was written was the incredibly large opportunities for business to market their products or services utilizing ebook technology.

More and more savvy business owners are discovering that individuals are very interested in knowledge-based content. You can find ebooks designed to assist you in maximizing online auction sales while other ebooks may be filled with how-to information on a variety of issues including home improvement and gardening.

The possibilities are limitless, but the growth of ebooks as a marketing tool is not to be underestimated.

Some of the primary selling tools for ebooks is…

* Instant access following purchase
* Portability
* Reduced cost
* No sales tax
* Delivered by pdf making it universally downloadable.

Today you will find websites dedicated to ebook marketing. Interestingly many of these sites use ebooks to market their ebook marketing program. I suppose this is a case of a company following their own advice. After all, if there is a way to market using ebooks what better tool to let people know about it than an ebook download?

You will also find an increasing number of ebooks being distributed that deal specifically with marketing in general. While there are certainly a growing number of fictional titles available in ebook downloads, the truth is the knowledge-based ebook is, in many ways, dominating available titles.

The category of ebooks has also opened the doors to many writers who have found traditional publishing routes to be a bit difficult to navigate. The development of ebooks can be learned and implemented quickly with the bulk of the profit returning to the author.

As we look back at the original development statement of the ebook there may be a link to marketing after all. Pay attention to these words, "facilitate the robust development and world-wide expansion of electronic commerce".

Hmmmmm, it sounds like marketing to me.

Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites.com at: www.highpowersites.com. Start your own ebook business with BooksWealth at: www.bookswealth.com