The special report of the Senate committee on the year 2000 problem hasn't broken Amazon.com's "Hot Books" list - but it is selling better than Independent Counsel Ken Starr's report to Congress.
A Tennessee publisher of religious books and Bibles has repackaged the report issued by Sens. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, and Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and is selling at half of the government's price at Amazon.com.
Thomas Nelson publishers have added a forward by Y2K doomsayer Gary North, a move that bothers the Senate committee. North has his own Y2K Web site, which says he is regarded as an "apocalyptic fanatic."
"The whole thing is a little strange," said committee spokesman Don Meyer. "Obviously, it's in the public domain, but we feel strangely violated."
Meyer added that the committee "won't get a cent from it," either.
The Government Printing Office sells a printed version of the report for $16. Or it can be downloaded for free from their Web site. Government documents are not copyrighted, so other publishers are free to repackage and sell them.
Andrew Sherman, GPO's director of Congressional and Public Affairs, said the report has been selling "briskly," and added that in the first three days of its release this spring, 700 copies were ordered by the public.
"Pat Robertson's 700 Club talked about it a lot on its network," Sherman said. "I'm not sure the committee foresaw that particular interest in the issue."
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