E-books: Apple threatened with legal action for price fixing
Why are e-books in the U.S. sometimes more expensive than their print counterparts? The U.S. Department of Justice is also asking this question. Suspecting price-fixing, it has been investigating the e-book market for several months.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple with its iPad reading device and five major publishers could now be sued. The US Department of Justice is preparing lawsuits, the newspaper reported in its Thursday edition, citing insiders. In parallel, settlement negotiations are underway to avoid lengthy and costly court proceedings.
The US competition authorities are targeting the publishers Macmillian, Simon & Schuster (part of CBS), Hachette, Penguin (Pearson) and HarperCollins (News Corp.). The companies themselves did not wish to comment to the newspaper.
The EU Commission has also been officially investigating the same group of publishers and Apple since December. Here, too, there is a suspicion of cartel formation. If the allegations are substantiated, the companies in Europe could face heavy fines. The bone of contention is the fixed prices that Apple is said to have agreed with the publishers. (SDA/DPA)
