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Apple issues 136-slide presentation as part of its closing arguments in e-book case
Apple's role in the Department of Justice cause regarding e-book pricing has come to a close, capped with a 136-slide presentation that All Things D has made available. The final slides were displayed in iBooks on an iPad in the presentation, saying that it was "time to close the book on this case." The government's summation was nearly as long, clocking in at 119 pages. Its presentation ends with urging that agency pricing be prohibited for two years and Apple barred from any further antitrust law violations, retaliation or discrimination. It also urged that Apple allow third-party booksellers to reinstate links to their stores. This comes on the heels of Barnes & Noble revealing in its testimony that the company was negotiating agency pricing long before Apple reached out to publishers. A decision is expected within the next few weeks.
Judge approves settlement for Hachette, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins in e-book lawsuit
It's a big day in the world of e-books, and not just for the crew at Amazon. Today, Judge Denise Cote approved settlement terms for three of the publishers accused by the Justice Department of price fixing. Hachette Book Group, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins each agreed to settle with the government, rather than face trial -- as Apple, Macmillian and Penguin Group will do in June of 2013. As part of the settlement agreement, each of the publishers will be required to terminate their contracts with Apple within one week. Similarly, they will be required to end contracts with other e-book retailers where clauses exist that would hinder the seller's ability to set pricing. Further, the settling companies won't be able to form contracts for the next two years with e-book retailers that would hinder the seller's discretion to set pricing. During the settlement approval period, individuals and companies alike were given 60 days to weigh in on the matter, which included objections from the American Booksellers Association, the Authors Guild and Barnes & Noble. Ultimately, Judge Cote determined that arguments against the settlement were "insufficient" to block the approval.
E-book price fixing trial set for 2013: Apple, Macmillan and Penguin prepare for courtroom brawl
The Justice Department meant business when it accused Apple and five other publishers of price-rigging e-books, and are officially taking Cupertino and two publishers to court. In a hearing on Friday, Judge Denise Cote set a bench trial for June 3, 2013, putting Apple, Macmillan and Penguin Group on the defense. The government's allegations focus largely on agency pricing, which sees booksellers taking a 30 percent cut of each sale in lieu of buying the books at wholesale and setting their own prices. Apple and Macmillan have already denied the Justice Department's claims, of course -- but that wasn't on the stand, was it?
Judge refuses request to dismiss ebook class action suit
Apple received a legal slap on Wednesday when U.S. District Judge Denise Cote rejected a request to dismiss a class action lawsuit against Apple and five publishers. Cote scoffed at the idea that Apple and the publishers acted independently in coming up with what's known as agency pricing, their defense to the charges that they were price-fixing ebooks. Not only that, she accused Steve Jobs at being at the center of it all. Parts of the opinion, as excerpted by paidContent, reads: In short, Apple did not try to earn money off of eBooks by competing with other retailers in an open market; rather, Apple 'accomplished this goal by [helping] the suppliers to collude, rather than to compete independently.'" "Finally, the fact that Apple might have had different motivations for joining the conspiracy, and was involved in only a portion of it, does not undermine the existence of the conspiracy itself or Apple's role as a participant. Cote also cites ongoing investigations against Apple, including the antitrust suit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, as other reasons to maintain the class action suit, filed in August 2011.
Apple says e-book price fixing charges 'simply not true,' Macmillan also responds
Not that we were expecting Apple and Macmillan to simply fess up and say, "you're right, totally tried to circumvent the free market," but both companies have come out swinging pretty hard against the allegations of price fixing. Apple has rejected the charges, calling them "simply not true." A company spokesman, Tom Neumayr, went so far as to tell Reuters that Cupertino was actually fostering competition by "breaking Amazon's monopolistic grip on the publishing industry." John Sargent, the CEO of Macmillan, defended his company's behavior in blog post, saying the publisher had done nothing illegal and that the concessions sought by the DOJ in settlement negotiations were "too onerous." It looks like the next step for both is to face off with the US government in court -- a daunting task, no matter how large your war chest.
Justice Department formally charges Apple, big five publishers in e-book price fixing case (update)
The Justice Department has formally decided to sue Apple, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster over alleged e-book price-rigging. Apple and Macmillan 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!
Random House switches e-book pricing models, clears way for entrance into iBookstore
Well, it looks like the last major holdout from Apple's iBookstore could soon be joining its rivals on iOS devices -- Random House announced today that it's abandoning its current pricing model for e-books in favor of the so-called "agency pricing" that Apple insists on. That model requires publishers to set the retail prices of their books with the bookseller getting a 30 percent cut of each sale -- as opposed to the traditional wholesale model that lets retailers set the price of books and even sell them at a loss (as Amazon has done in the past). As the Wall Street Journal notes, the agency model has been criticized by some (including Random House previously) for effectively eliminating discounting and guaranteeing retailers a profit on each book they sell. Of course, Random House hasn't yet officially announced that it will be joining the iBookstore ranks, but this news does certainly line up nicely with a little event tomorrow.
Amazon agrees to agency pricing model with two more publishers, Jobs prophecy coming to pass
Time to add HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster to the list of publishers who've managed to strongarm Amazon into acceding to their supposedly industry-saving agency pricing model. Under the new agreement, you might still see e-book versions of bestsellers priced at the familiar $9.99, but the majority will be jumping up to $12.99 and $14.99 price points, depending on the publisher's discretion. This is essentially the same deal that brought Macmillan books back to Amazon.com, and the e-tailer is believed to also be in advanced negotiations with Hatchette Book Group and Penguin Group to ensure that no book is left behind. This development was cryptically predicted by Steve Jobs mere hours after the iPad's launch and then reiterated by Rupert Murdoch with regard to HarperCollins, so we can't exactly act surprised now, but we can at least grimace a little at having to face a more expensive e-reading future.
