One Of The World's Leading Publishers Called Amazon An 'ISIS-Like Distribution Channel'

Andrew Wylie, one of the most powerful literary agents in the world, has compared Amazon to the Islamic State, saying that the ebook retailer "is sort of a ISIS-like distribution channel," the Guardian reports.

Wylie, who can name Salman Rushdie and Philip Roth among his clients, was speaking at the International Festival of Authors (IFOA) in Toronto, Canada, on Oct. 27.

In a Q&A session after his speech, he turned his attention to Amazon's Jeff Bezos accusing him of having "taken the business and distorted it radically." He went on to predict a gloomy future for the online store, saying that soon the readers will realize how bad Amazon is and it "is going to be buried."

Amazon was not directly available to comment.

This is not the first time Wylie has criticized the world's biggest online bookstore, although he tried to collaborate with Amazon in 2010 through one of his publishing houses, Odyssey.

Publisher Weekly reports that he previously took a public stance in defending Hachette in a dispute against Amazon, while encouraging his colleagues to "stand firm" against the company.

The fight between Amazon and old-school publishers is a old one: Publishers say the online retailer just care about selling the books and not their literary significance.

Earlier this month, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman compared Amazon to the early 20th century oil drillers like J.D. Rockefeller noting that giant online retailer has "too much power."

Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions.