Apple, leading US publishers, charged with collusion
(Read article summary)Two plaintiffs in an anti-trust lawsuit claim that Apple and five publishers colluded to drive up Amazon's low e-book prices, raising profits for publishers and making Apple's iPad more competitive against Amazon's Kindle.
Something fishy may be happening in the e-book world.
Apple, Hachette Book Group, Penguin Group Inc., Simon & Schuster Inc., Macmillan Publishers, and HarperCollins Publishers have just been slapped with a class action anti-trust lawsuit.
The Hagens Berman law firm of northern California is bringing the suit and the plaintiffs – according to the Hagens Berman website – are Anthony Petru of California and Marcus Mathis of Mississippi.
Hagens Berman claims that Apple and the five publishers colluded to drive up e-book prices and eliminate Amazon's lead in the e-book market. Amazon previously sold e-books at $9.99, for less money than the physical books cost and often at a loss in order to drive up demand for e-books and thus, the Amazon Kindle.
