“A closer look at the deal Steve Jobs offered the publishers suggests a way out,” Phillip Elmer-DeWitt reports for Fortune.
“In Saturday’s Washington Post, columnist Steven Pearlstein [explains]. The problem, according to Pearlstein, stems from two provisions in the contract Apple got the publishers to sign,” P.E.D. reports. “One that prohibits the publishers from entering into ‘wholesale’ arrangements with Amazon or any other major distributor [and] a second that guarantees that no other distributor will be allowed to sell books for less than Apple.”
P.E.D. reports, “Settlement talks now underway, Pearlstein says, are focused on those two provisions. If they can be written out of Apple’s contract, and the publishers can agree to pay some reasonable fines, perhaps a deal could be struck.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
U.S. DOJ warns Apple, publishers; threatens to sue, alleging collusion over e-book pricing – March 8, 2012
Class-action lawsuit alleges Apple, publishers engaged in ‘price-fixing conspiracy’ to punish Amazon – January 21, 2012
U.S. Justice Department confirms antitrust probe of Apple iBookstore, publishers, e-book industry – December 7, 2011
EU investigates Apple over ‘anti-competitive’ practices in e-book market – December 6, 2011
Say, what about some of the strikingly similar terms & conditions in Amazon’s Android Store agreement developers have to sign?
Specifically, the provision that prohibits the app maker from selling an app for less elsewhere – will the DOJ be taking a look into that?
No? Ahh, so they’re just going after Apple then, gotcha.
“One that prohibits the publishers from entering into ‘wholesale’ arrangements with Amazon or any other major distributor [and] a second that guarantees that no other distributor will be allowed to sell books for less than Apple.”
Somehow I think this paraphrasing doesn’t fully explain the nature of contract.
Amazon has the same pricing terms in their kindle book contracts — I know because I had to agree that I wouldn’t sell my book cheaper anywhere else.
Bogus analysis. It is not a violation of Sherman.
In the “Agency” model, the publishers dictate how much a book must sell for. By agreeing to those terms, Apple is insisting that no one else will be allowed to sell for less than they. It is not uncommon for publishers/manufacturers to set minimum pricing for their product/s.
If there is a problem, then it is with the “Agency” model itself.
I think the wording is different.
(correct me if I’m wrong)
Apple gets the lowest price no matter what.
Not that publishers are prohibited from selling lower, bur if the low price is offered elsewhere, it must apply to the iBookstore as well.