The US Attorney General has filed a civil antitrust action against Apple and a number of publishers accusing them of colluding to sell e-books for higher prices.
In a filing submitted yesterday in New York, the US Justice Department accused Apple and a range of publishers - including HarperCollins Publishers and Hachette Book Group - of limiting price competition by changing the way e-books were sold. The filing claims Apple and the publishers agreed to alter the existing business model for selling e-books and tablets, replacing the wholesale retail model with a system that saw publishers appoint retail groups as agents, who were powerless to cut prices. The Attorney General alleges the move was done to combat Amazon - the online retailer - wh...
To continue reading this article...
Join Investment Week for free
Signup and gain exclusive members-only insights - all free of charge!
- Unlimited access to real-time news, analysis and opinion from the investment industry, including the Sustainable Hub covering fund news from the ESG space
- Get ahead of regulatory and technological changes affecting fund management
- Important and breaking news stories selected by the editors delivered straight to your inbox each day
- Weekly members-only newsletter with exclusive opinion pieces from leading industry experts
- Be the first to hear about our extensive events schedule and awards programmes
