DoJ settles e-books suit with 3 publishers

News Wireless United States 12 APR 2012
DoJ settles e-books suit with 3 publishers
The US Department of Justice announced a settlement with three of the five publishers under investigation for alleged price-fixing in e-books. Under the proposed agreement with Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster, they will terminate their agreements with Apple and other e-books retailers and will be prohibited for two years from entering into new agreements that constrain retailers' ability to offer discounts or other promotions on e-books. They will also have to notify the DoJ in advance of any e-book ventures they plan to undertake jointly with other publishers and regularly report on any communications with other publishers. The DoJ will continue its lawsuit against Apple, Macmillan and Penguin. According to the DoJ, Macmillan and Penguin's agency agreements prohibit e-book retailers from setting their own prices on titles, while pledging to Apple that no retailer would sell the books cheaper than its iBookstore. The DoJ is cooperating with the European Commission and several state attorney-generals on the investigation.

Categories:

Mobile

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Apple

Countries:

United States

Tags:

Data services, Regulations, Consumer devices, Pricing

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