What the heck is happening with Amazon and Macmillan?

Disturbing development this weekend as Amazon yanks Macmillan titles from its website and strips sample chapters from Kindles. John Sargent's message, which ran as a paid advertisement in a special Saturday edition of Publishers Lunch, attempts to explain the backstory and calm fears:

This past Thursday I met with Amazon in Seattle. I gave them our proposal for new terms of sale for e books under the agency model which will become effective in early March. In addition, I told them they could stay with their old terms of sale, but that this would involve extensive and deep windowing of titles. By the time I arrived back in New York late yesterday afternoon they informed me that they were taking all our books off the Kindle site, and off Amazon. The books will continue to be available on Amazon.com through third parties.

I regret that we have reached this impasse. Amazon has been a valuable customer for a long time, and it is my great hope that they will continue to be in the very near future. They have been a great innovator in our industry, and I suspect they will continue to be for decades to come.

It is those decades that concern me now, as I am sure they concern you...

There's an old saying: "When elephants fight, the grass is trampled."