U.S. Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Apple, Hachette

[A Guy]

The U.S. sued Apple Inc. (AAPL), Hachette SA, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster in New York district court, claiming the publishers colluded to fix eBook prices.

CBS Corp. (CBS)’s Simon & Schuster, Lagardère SCA’s Hachette Book Group and News Corp. (NWSA)’s HarperCollins settled their suits today, two people familiar with the cases said.

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A Guy

 

[mr pc]

while college textbook publishers continue to gouge college students for new editions every other semester...

 

[Stratos]

Lawsuit will likely, IMHO rule against Apple but the end result of the ebook pricing changes/improvements will likely be trivial to the consumer at best.

 

[bigcitycat]

And the attack on business and free enterprise continues. We won't be happy till we scare the crap out of everyone.

 

[pparks1]

I for one am very happy this lawsuit is under way and getting publicity. Apple and the ebook publishers overstepped their boundaries by fixing prices. Apple would continue to get their 30% and it would forbid other book sellers (Amazon) from selling their ebooks at a lower price than Apple was via iTunes.

Before Apple get into the ebook market with their iPad, I got my books for $7.99 to $9.99 from Amazon. After Apple got into the game, my books have been $12.99 to $14.99 and Amazon has to put disclaimers on everything saying the prices are set by the publishers.

If Apple wants to kickass in this market, do it like Amazon has..selling the ebooks at a loss. But no, not the almighty Apple, eat into their profits to make a killing....hardly. Nope, let's guarantee our profits, restrict competition and screw the consumer. And that's what they did.