Over $20 Million Spent to Protect New Harry Potter Book

The new book by J K Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is under some serious surveillance.

A Â£10 million security operation featuring an army of guards, satellite tracking systems and draconian legal contracts has swung into action to prevent any leak of details of the seventh and final book about the boy wizard.

Only its author J K Rowling and some 20 other people, including the book’s editors, illustrators and the “Potterologists” who ensure continuity, know Harry’s fate. In fact, when a lawyer for Scholastic hand delivered it from London to New York, he sat on it during the entire flight.

It seems almost ridiculous the measures being taken for this book:

London-based Bloomsbury, which publishes the Potter books in Britain, has hired secure sites across the country to house the book prior to distribution early this week. It is understood that several dozen security teams will protect the sites round the clock. Experts say security staff will earn up to Â£30 an hour with a guard dog, up to Â£20 without.

Print factory workers in Britain have been threatened with the sack if they leak any details, while German publishers banned mobile phones and even packed lunches in the printing plant. Some employees reportedly had to work in near-darkness to prevent them reading the book.

It is from Tuesday, however, when copies begin to be sent out to retailers, that the most crucial part of the security operation will come into effect. The trucks Bloomsbury will use are fitted with satellite tracking systems costing up to Â£1,000 each, which will reveal whether any of the vehicles deviates from its intended route. The books are on sealed pallets fitted with alarms to prevent tampering.

A spokesman for Bloomsbury said: “We have a litigation specialist poised 24 hours a day, seven days a week to deal with any breaches. It is our intention to enforce the embargo vigorously and seek an immediate injunction if required.”

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Over $20 Million Spent to Protect New Harry Potter Book

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