Apple, publishers conspired against $9.99 Amazon e-books, says lawsuit

[DainBramaged]

"Terrified" by Amazon's Kindle e-reader and discounted e-book pricing, five major publishers allegedly acted together to increase e-book prices and compel Amazon to abandon its discount sales strategy. That's the gist of a new class action antitrust lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California by the Hagens Berman litigation group.

The five book sellers named in the suit are HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group, Macmillan, Penguin Group Inc., and Simon & Schuster Inc, plus one more defendant: Apple.

"Fortunately for the publishers, they had a co-conspirator as terrified as they were over Amazon's popularity and pricing structure, and that was Apple," charges Hagen Berman attorney Steve Berman. "We intend to prove that Apple needed a way to neutralize Amazon's Kindle before its popularity could challenge the upcoming introduction of the iPad, a device Apple intended to compete as an e-reader."

The essence of the claim is that these publishers, in coordination with Apple, conspired to nix the low price e-books that Amazon launched in 2007. Amazon wanted to quickly gain market share with its Kindle, the court filing observes, the first version of which sold out in less than a quarter of a day. And so, capitalizing on its "first mover" advantage, Amazon sold e-books at prices conspicuously lower than physical books—many titles were made available for $9.99.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/08/class-action-suit-targets-apple-and-five-publishers-for-price-fixing.ars

[polichick]

1. Their conspiracy raised the prices of ebooks so much that indies have...

...gotten a nice boost. My husband and I are huge readers and often get indie novels for our kindles rather than pay the ridiculous prices brought about by these publishers and Apple.

[pintobean]

2. Apple is rotten

Nothing new there. They are the king of patent theft, as well.

[DainBramaged]

4. For such a 'benevolent' company, they sure are scummy

[Amonester]

3. Well, well, well.... Surprise, surprise... So Apple 'may' not...

So Apple 'may' not be that much 'different' than the 'other capitalist predators' out there...

Who would have known! :evilgrin:

[sfpcjock]

5. Kind of amazing, no pun intended.

You mean Harper can't make money on vaporware with absolutely no publishing cost except for a guy with Photoshop to make a cover? LOL

[Donnachaidh]

6. Monopolies seek to control more and more -- Apple is one of the worst

Despite what the appleheads say. Product produced with slave labor and now this? Yeah, keep telling us how *wondrous* Apple is...

[pintobean]

7. Well, you've solved the rec/unrec dilemma

It's obviously Apple.