Three of five publishers that the Justice Department accused of conspiring with
Apple over ebook pricing have already settled.
Not exact matches
In the ongoing legal battles involving
Apple over antitrust violations in an
ebook price fixing case, it seems the technology giant just can't catch a break.
News was announced yesterday from the lawyers for the plaintiffs in one of
Apple's side lawsuits
over ebook pricing that the grand total the company could have to pay out to consumers is $ 400 million.
2 min readThe
eBook pricing war rages on, with such heavy - hitters as the Department of Justice, Amazon,
Apple, and the majority of major publishers continuing to tussle
over the
price of
eBooks.
One last fact: Even after the
price - fixing issue called «agency
pricing» is settled and
over, nothing prevents publishers from charging
Apple and Amazon and any other
ebook channel that comes online between now and forever, whatever
price they want for an
ebook.
Apple, Pearson and Macmillan continue to fight the US Justice Department in reaching a settlement
over their agency
eBook price fixing.
Many publishers colluded with
Apple when it launched iBooks to create a uniform
ebook pricing structure to disrupt Amazon's complete dominance
over the industry.
A US judge is still in the process of handling the DOJ lawsuit against
Apple — along with five of the then - Big Six publishers — for conspiring to raise the
price of
ebooks in order to impact the market share that Amazon held
over the industry.
This settlement isn't to be confused with the Department of Justice lawsuit against
Apple for colluding with five of the then - Big Six publishers to artificially raise the
prices of
ebooks in order to draw some of the control
over the market away from Amazon.
According to Bloomberg, the U.S. DOJ just filed an antitrust lawsuit against
Apple over the
pricing of
eBooks.
In a long - awaited decision from Judge Denise Cote, the court approved the settlement terms from three of the five Big Six publishers who allegedly colluded with
Apple to set the
prices of
ebooks artificially high in order to rein in some of Amazon's dominance
over the market.
Apple has faced a ton of heat
over its
price fixing allegations to form a
ebook price fixing cartel with the top six publishers.
I can see why
Apple is jaded with the platform, they colluded with publishers to implement agency
pricing and had to pay
over a hundred million to appease the Justice Department and give that money back to the customers that paid for
ebooks.
With its outrageous download fees for
ebooks (megabyte for megabyte,
over five times more expensive than Verizon cell phone data charges) and the low royalty it pays on books outside a narrow
price range ($ 2.99 - 9.99), Amazon is probably earning double the profits on
ebooks as competitors such as
Apple or various national
ebook retailers.
While the US courts hear arguments about alleged
price fixing and anti-trust issues between
Apple and five of the Big Six publishers» effort to reduce Amazon's hold on the
ebook industry, a similar investigation has been going on in the EU
over the same accusations.
When I asked for his reaction to the Department of Justice's anti-trust lawsuit against
Apple and the Publisher Defendants
over eBook pricing, he eschewed gloating and stuck to the company line: «We think it's great for customers for retailers to be able to compete and set
prices for consumers and try to find a way to build a great business and a great consumer offering.»
The
eBook pricing war rages on, with such heavy - hitters as the Department of Justice, Amazon,
Apple, and the majority of major publishers continuing to tussle
over the
price of
eBooks.
Class - action law firm Hagens Berman's seeking more plaintiffs for its lawsuit against
Apple and five publishers
over illegal
ebook price - fixing.
New court reports this week suggest
Apple (s aapl) is sinking ever deeper into legal quicksand, as the company fights a court judgment
over ebook price - fixing that could ultimately cost it close to $ 1 billion dollars.
Also, the pending Department of Justice lawsuit against
Apple and other publishers
over the «setting» of
ebook prices could affect Amazon's distribution to
Apple, even with the Ingram deal.
In the wake of the Department of Justice lawsuit against
Apple and book publishers
over ebook pricing, Amazon is in a renewed position of strength.
Apple has received a new damages claim of
over $ 840 million dollars for conspiring with publishing companies to raise the
price of
ebooks across the entire industry.
A Manhattan judge has finally approved
Apple's settlement in its long - running
ebook price - fixing lawsuit: $ 400m will go to readers who paid
over the odds, and $ 50m will go to the lawyers suing the iTunes Giant.
The European Commission said it was opening a formal investigation
over whether the five publishers and
Apple had restricted competition by colluding on
ebook pricing.
A US appeals court has rejected
Apple's attempt to delay the damages trial
over its
ebook price - fixing scandal.
A few weeks after a settlement was approved in the United States,
Apple (s AAPL), Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette and Macmillan have reached a preliminary agreement with the European Commission
over allegedly conspiring to set
ebook prices.
The Department of Justice today filed its antitrust suit against
Apple, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster
over the agency model of
ebook pricing.
The cat in question here is [company] Amazon [/ company], which controlled
over 90 percent of the
ebook market in early 2010 when
Apple and the publishers introduced «agency
pricing,» which lets publishers set an
ebook's retail
price and pay the publisher a commission.
It's been several months now since any news has been heard about
Apple «s settlement in a class - action lawsuit
over the company's
ebook price - fixing.