“The government has reached a proposed settlement with Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC, which does business as Macmillan, one of five major book publishers that allegedly conspired with Apple Inc. to raise e-book prices for consumers, the Justice Department announced Friday,” Hillel Italie and Larry Neumeister report for The Associated Press. “The government is continuing its case against Apple but has now reached agreements with the five publishers.”
“The Justice Department complaint alleged that the five companies and Apple worked together to raise retail e-book prices and eliminate price competition,” Italie and Neumeister report. “The government said competition had reduced e-book prices and the retail profit margins of the booksellers.”
Italie and Neumeister report, “Under the proposed settlement, which still needs approval by a federal judge in New York, Macmillan will lift restrictions on discounting and other promotions by e-book retailers. It will be barred from entering new agreements with similar restrictions until December 2014. ‘We settled because the potential penalties became too high to risk even the possibility of an unfavorable outcome,’ Macmillan CEO John Sargent said Friday in an online letter to authors, illustrators and agents. Sargent said the company did not reach an agreement earlier because, in part, ‘I had an old-fashioned belief that you should not settle if you have done no wrong. As it turns out, that is indeed old-fashioned.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: So, John, was the castration painful?
The U.S. DOJ is plainly inept.
Killing real competition for the appearance of competition is just plain stupid.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Rainy Day” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
U.S. reaches e-books settlement with Penguin – December 18, 2012
Apple’s U.S. e-books antitrust case set for 2013 trial – June 24, 2012
U.S. government complains, claims Apple trying to rush e-books antitrust case – June 21, 2012
Barnes & Noble blasts U.S. DOJ e-book settlement proposal – June 7, 2012
Apple: U.S. government’s e-book antitrust lawsuit ‘is fundamentally flawed as a matter of fact and law’ – May 24, 2012
Federal Judge rejects Apple and publishers’ attempt to dismiss civil case alleging e-book price-fixing – May 15, 2012
Court documents reveal Steve Jobs email pushing e-book agency model; 17 more states join class action suit – May 15, 2012
Apple vs. Amazon: Who’s really fixing eBook prices? – April 17, 2012
Apple: U.S. DOJ’s accusation of collusion against iBookstore is simply not true – April 12, 2012
Apple not likely to be a loser in legal fight over eBooks – April 12, 2012
16 U.S. states join DOJ’s eBook antitrust action against Apple, publishers – April 12, 2012
Australian gov’t considers suing Apple, five major publishers over eBook pricing – April 12, 2012
DOJ’s panties in a bunch over Apple and eBooks, but what about Amazon? – April 12, 2012
Antitrust experts: Apple likely to beat U.S. DOJ, win its eBook lawsuit – April 12, 2012
Why the market shrugged off the Apple antitrust suit – April 11, 2012
What’s wrong with the U.S. DOJ? – April 11, 2012
Macmillan CEO blasts U.S. DOJ; gov’t on verge of killing real competition for appearance of competition – April 11, 2012
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U.S. DOJ may sue Apple over ebook price-fixing as early as today, sources say – April 11, 2012
Legalized extortion?
Agreed!
As for Apple’s guilt, I believe that Apple doesn’t set the price. Only the 30% of the sale. Also, if they are FREE then Apple charges nothing and supplies the e-books at Apple’s expense. Same deal for everyone. So, FREE ($0.00 = $0.00 x 1.3) is over charging? Who new!
I think the state of New Jersey runs the same deal. They get 7% of every sale and they don’t set the price either. If it is FREE than there is no state tax! Maybe the federal government and all the states with sales taxes are running a monopoly! I think the Justice Department needs to look into these state taxes too!
Clueless idiots!
Even though it is the exact same thing, except in name, it isn’t extortion when the government does it.
Why?
Because… the government says so.
First Eric Holder came for our guns and now he wants our iPads!
FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS, HOLDER!
Please don’t confuse the issues. But I do appreciate the humor.
I think that a huge fine for Apple’s part in this sordid affair will probably cause Apple to cave and pony up, NOT!
FSCK -U DOJ for blatant TechTard idiocy. Or were you screwing everyone else over for the sake of Amazon? Is that who’s really in charge here?
FAIL-Job Deluxe DOJ. History will revile you for your ANTI-COMPETITIVE bullshit. 😛
I don’t think it’s ‘old fashioned’ to stick up for yourself when you’ve done nothing wrong. I can’t imagine Apple caving to this blatantly wrong stupidity. Being right and saying you’re right is always the cutting edge of progress.
John Sargent of Macmillan, however, had a FINANCIAL INCENTIVE to buckle to the DOJ’s stupid and criminal behavior. That’s as old fashioned as it gets, as old as mankind’s first system of trading. Thugs threaten you! What’s the cheaper choice? Buckle or get thumped?! The publishers decided to buckle for the sake of saving money. That’s their choice. A shame.
Other than hearsay (which is inadmissible), without Jobs to testify himself, DOJ cannot prove a damn thing about the intent he had.
Apple should never concede the charges and admit to wrongdoing.
Apple and Jobs have been accused before of accounting wrongdoing and other unfounded charges before, investigated and always cleared in the end.
Apple offered an independent and appealing, aternative service, for which they got a set fee. It’s absurd to accuse Apple, as we know it, of wrongdoing.
‘I had an old-fashioned belief that you should not settle if you have done no wrong. As it turns out, that is indeed old-fashioned.’
Ignoring the merits of this case itself, his statement is sadly absolutely correct today, not just in civil cases, but in criminal cases.