[Overview]
In 1999, there were nearly as many eBook formats as eBooks, with every
company and organization creating its own format for its own eBook
reader and its own electronic device. The publishing industry felt the
need to work on a common format for eBooks and and published in
September 1999 the first version of the Open eBook (OeB) format, an
eBook format based on XML (eXtensible Markup Language) and defined by
the Open eBook Publication Structure (OeBPS). The Open eBook Forum was
created in January 2000 to develop the OeB format and OeBPS
specifications. Since 2000, most eBook formats were derived from - or
are compatible with the OeB format. In April 2005, the Open eBook Forum
became the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), and the OeB
format became the ePub format. The ePub format is one of the standards
for the digital publishing industry.