This seems to be clear case of envy against success. I really can't say anything else. Clear case of burning tax payer's money as if it was recycled newspaper.. I think department of Justice and FTC type of organizations should be sued to start these type of investigations which are clear wastage of time and money. I hope that some one is watching and planning to that..
In the digital world, there are so many options nowadays that you really can't complain about wrong business model or monopoly. As long as any such agreement prohibits content to be published or printed anywhere else on any other media, it is totally unnecessary. Let customers decide and punish and reward any such pricing models. There is nothing wrong in innovating and brining new pricing or business models. Let readers decide what they want to read or buy and from where to buy and which model to use to buy.. yada yada..
Somehow, I feel that now a days US government agencies have become mostly moron and simply decide to go after any company or business model which is successful and making lot of money. The level of trust has gone so low that they simply can't believe that this success is due some genuine hard for of individuals or group of individuals.
If these agencies don't have any work, I would prefer that their budget be cut so it helps at least US deficit. I am in principle left leaning but these kind of actions are making me move towards right.. So help me God!!! oops... I thought I was atheist!!
CBS’s Simon & Schuster, Lagardère’s Hachette Book Group, and News Corp.’s HarperCollins are seeking to avoid a costly legal battle and could reach a settlement next week, a person said this week. A settlement could also void so-called most-favored nation clauses in Apple’s contracts that require booksellers to provide the maker of the iPad with the lowest prices they offer competitors, the people said.
Upholding the agency model would give publishers more control over pricing and limit discounting, helping the industry avoid sales losses as more consumers buy books online.
The Justice Department is probing how Cupertino based Apple changed the way publishers charged for e-books on the iPad, a person familiar with the matter said last month. European antitrust regulators also have said they’re investigating whether Apple’s pricing deals with publishers restrict competition.
Sales of e-books rose 117 percent in 2011, generating $969.9 million, Publishers Weekly reported Feb. 27, citing data from the Association of American Publishers. By eliminating printing and shipping costs, digital versions generate higher profit margins than physical copies.
When Apple came out with the iPad in 2010, it let publishers set their own prices for e-books as long as it got a 30 percent cut and the publishers agreed to offer their lowest prices through Apple. This so-called agency model overtook Amazon.com’s practice of buying books at a discount from publishers and then setting its own price for e-reader devices.
The results of a settlement or lawsuit wouldn’t necessarily kill the agency model or prevent other publishers from continuing to set their own prices for e-books, one of the people said.
Random House has agreements with Apple and Amazon that lets the book publisher set prices for e-books, the essence of the agency model. The company isn’t a part of the U.S. inquiry, Stuart Applebaum, a Random House spokesman, said.
Gina Talamona, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department’s antitrust division, declined to comment, as did representatives of Apple, Penguin, Macmillan, Hachette, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins.
In the digital world, there are so many options nowadays that you really can't complain about wrong business model or monopoly. As long as any such agreement prohibits content to be published or printed anywhere else on any other media, it is totally unnecessary. Let customers decide and punish and reward any such pricing models. There is nothing wrong in innovating and brining new pricing or business models. Let readers decide what they want to read or buy and from where to buy and which model to use to buy.. yada yada..
Somehow, I feel that now a days US government agencies have become mostly moron and simply decide to go after any company or business model which is successful and making lot of money. The level of trust has gone so low that they simply can't believe that this success is due some genuine hard for of individuals or group of individuals.
If these agencies don't have any work, I would prefer that their budget be cut so it helps at least US deficit. I am in principle left leaning but these kind of actions are making me move towards right.. So help me God!!! oops... I thought I was atheist!!
DIGITAL READERS
Apple up for e-book battle
Company, under probe by Justice Department, ready to defend pricing agreements in court
By Andy Fixmer, Sara Forden and Edmund Lee
Bloomberg News
Apple and two publishers are preparing to fight the U.S. Justice Department in court if necessary over pricing agreements for digital books, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
Apple, Pearson’s Penguin Group, and Macmillan, a unit of Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck, want to protect the so-called agency model that lets publishers — not vendors — set e-book prices, said the people, who declined to be identified because they weren’t authorized to talk publicly.
The Justice Department is probing whether Apple’s interaction with publishers over pricing hampered competition in the market for electronic books. The government is seeking a settlement that would let Amazon.com and other retailers return to a wholesale model, where retailers decide what to charge customers, the people told Bloomberg News.
Apple up for e-book battle
Company, under probe by Justice Department, ready to defend pricing agreements in court
By Andy Fixmer, Sara Forden and Edmund Lee
Bloomberg News
Apple and two publishers are preparing to fight the U.S. Justice Department in court if necessary over pricing agreements for digital books, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
Apple, Pearson’s Penguin Group, and Macmillan, a unit of Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck, want to protect the so-called agency model that lets publishers — not vendors — set e-book prices, said the people, who declined to be identified because they weren’t authorized to talk publicly.
The Justice Department is probing whether Apple’s interaction with publishers over pricing hampered competition in the market for electronic books. The government is seeking a settlement that would let Amazon.com and other retailers return to a wholesale model, where retailers decide what to charge customers, the people told Bloomberg News.
CBS’s Simon & Schuster, Lagardère’s Hachette Book Group, and News Corp.’s HarperCollins are seeking to avoid a costly legal battle and could reach a settlement next week, a person said this week. A settlement could also void so-called most-favored nation clauses in Apple’s contracts that require booksellers to provide the maker of the iPad with the lowest prices they offer competitors, the people said.
Upholding the agency model would give publishers more control over pricing and limit discounting, helping the industry avoid sales losses as more consumers buy books online.
The Justice Department is probing how Cupertino based Apple changed the way publishers charged for e-books on the iPad, a person familiar with the matter said last month. European antitrust regulators also have said they’re investigating whether Apple’s pricing deals with publishers restrict competition.
Sales of e-books rose 117 percent in 2011, generating $969.9 million, Publishers Weekly reported Feb. 27, citing data from the Association of American Publishers. By eliminating printing and shipping costs, digital versions generate higher profit margins than physical copies.
When Apple came out with the iPad in 2010, it let publishers set their own prices for e-books as long as it got a 30 percent cut and the publishers agreed to offer their lowest prices through Apple. This so-called agency model overtook Amazon.com’s practice of buying books at a discount from publishers and then setting its own price for e-reader devices.
The results of a settlement or lawsuit wouldn’t necessarily kill the agency model or prevent other publishers from continuing to set their own prices for e-books, one of the people said.
Random House has agreements with Apple and Amazon that lets the book publisher set prices for e-books, the essence of the agency model. The company isn’t a part of the U.S. inquiry, Stuart Applebaum, a Random House spokesman, said.
Gina Talamona, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department’s antitrust division, declined to comment, as did representatives of Apple, Penguin, Macmillan, Hachette, Simon & Schuster and HarperCollins.
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