Justice Department formally charges Apple, big five publishers in ebook price fixing case (update)

The Justice Department has formally decided to sue Apple, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillian, Penguin and Simon & Schuster over alleged ebook price-rigging. Apple and Macmillian have already denied any wrongdoing, saying that the agreements were enhancing competition in an industry previously dominated by Amazon. The case centers around a deal to switch to agency pricing, where the vendor takes a 30 percent cut of each sale rather than the wholesale model which allows stores to sell books at rock-bottom prices. It was previously believed that the publishers had cut back-room deals with the Government agency after bowing to pressure to withdraw Cupertino's "favored nation" status. If successful, the DoJ will allow Amazon and Barnes and Noble amongst others to return to the wholesale model to sell best-sellers at a loss, something that the big five are desperate to avoid, and will look to fight the battle in court. Update: The PDF of the DoJ's filing is now available online -- it makes for fascinating reading. Update 2: Bloomberg is now reporting that Simon & Schuster, Lagardère SCA's Hachette Book Group and HarperCollins have settled with the DoJ over unspecified terms. Hasty!Justice Department formally charges Apple, big five publishers in ebook price fixing case (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  Bloomberg, Department of Justice filing (PDF)  | Email this | Comments Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Self-published books triple in production since 2006

Self-published books make up 43 percent of the print titles released in 2011 and helped to drive the first growth in print production since 2007, according to a new study from Bowker. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin and Random House: Will they combine to form the world's biggest publisher?

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[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-10-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Stuff | 2012-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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India vs. China? To Publishers, India Wins

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple announces iPad Mini

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[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple Unveils 4th Generation iPad and iPad Mini

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ AllThingsD | 2012-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Folio Magazine | 2012-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Unintended Consequences In the HathiTrust Case

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2012-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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