The United States Department of Justice could file suit against Apple as early as Wednesday over e-book price fixing allegations according to Reuters.
The report sites people familiar with the matter, and claims the DoJ may file suit against Apple and settle with “several publishers.” Apple has already reportedly changed their terms and conditions to remove the Agency model of book distribution which is at the center of the DoJ’s investigation.
The DoJ will need to prove Apple colluded with publishers to move from the wholesale model used by Amazon to the Agency model where publishers, not the resellers, set their own prices for e-books. This effectively eliminated third-party e-book sellers from the market and put a few notable reader applications and their accompanying e-book stores out of business. Jobs claimed the publishers were willing to switch to the new model because they were sick of Amazon selling Kindle e-books below cost.
The DoJ has reportedly contacted Apple and five publishers of their intent to sue. Many of the publishers involved (Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Macmillan, HarperCollins, and Penguin) have been negotiating with the DoJ over a settlement that would allow them to avoid suit. Whether Apple has been in similar talks is not known.
Source: Reuters Wire [via Yahoo]
Reply
