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Three US publishers, Apple charged with antitrust violations over e-books pricing
12 Apr 12
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Thursday, April 12, 2012
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The antitrust action stems from a two-year investigation, led by the Texas Attorney General’s Office and coordinated with the offices of the Connecticut Attorney General and the US Department of Justice, into allegations that the defendants conspired to raise e-book prices. For years, retailers sold e-books through a traditional wholesale distribution model, under which retailers – not publishers – set e-books’ sales prices. However, the investigation revealed that Penguin, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan conspired with other publishers and Apple to artificially raise prices by imposing a distribution model in which the publishers set the prices for bestsellers at $12.99 and $14.99.
The states have reached an agreement in principle with Harper Collins and Hachette to provide significant consumer restitution as well as injunctive relief.
Texas was joined in the enforcement action by Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont and West Virginia.
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