E-bookPricing
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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 preparing Apple iBooks antitrust lawsuit
The Justice Department is reportedly preparing to go after Apple, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Penguin, Macmillan and HarperCollins following its investigation into alleged e-book price-rigging. 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 that gives publishers more flexibility to reduce prices or even sell e-books at a loss. Some publishers are now trying to agree on a new policy in an effort to stave off the kind of federal suit that nobody wants to wear.
