• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Login
  • Register

Publishers Lunch

The Publishing Industry's Daily Essential Read

  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Site Guide
  • Help

Where’s Chuck? Schumer Says DOJ eBook Pricing Case “Empowered Monopolists and Hurt Innovators”–In An Op-Ed

July 18, 2012
By Michael Cader

New York Senator Chuck Schumer, who represents many of the estimated 50,000 or so New Yorkers employed by the publishing industry, has finally stirred himself to comment on the Department of Justice’s ebook pricing case. For now, he does so in a venue with no real consequences, penning an op-ed column in the Wall Street Journal. Schumer writes: “I am concerned that the mere filing of this lawsuit has empowered monopolists and hurt innovators. I believe it will have a deterrent effect not only on publishers but on other industries that are coming up with creative ways to grow and adapt to the Internet.” Calling the suit “unsettling from a broader perspective,” Schumer suggests that “as our economy transitions to digital platforms, we should be celebrating and supporting industries that find ways to adapt and grow. By developing a pricing model that made e-book sales work for them, publishers did just that.”

He criticizes the “administration” and says it “needs to reassess its prosecution priorities. Justice Department officials currently have comprehensive guidelines in place to determine when they should challenge mergers, but they have no such guidelines for non-merger investigations. It’s time to come up with some.”

If only Schumer had a position of influence, like, say, a seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights (where Richard Blumenthal, who instituted the Connecticut state investigation when he was running for the Senate also sits), maybe he could pursue this agenda beyond a newspaper column.

Schumer suggests that “the prospect that a single firm would control access to books should give any reader pause” and argues that “while consumers may have a short-term interest in today’s new release e-book prices, they have a more pressing long-term interest in the survival of the publishing industry.” Requests for comment from Schumer’s spokesperso on what additional plans the senator may have  to act on his convictions via the Judiciary Committee, or through direct contact with the Attorney General or the Administration were not returned.

Filed Under: DOJ, Free, Legal

sidebar

Primary Free Sidebar

Login


Forgot password
Quick Pass users click here to log in
Get Full Access
The publishing industry's essential daily read

Each Publishers Lunch Deluxe subscription includes full access to our searchable multi-year archive of industry news, a nightly email reporting 10 to 50 deal transactions, and our database of industry contacts, scripts, and posting privileges.

Learn More

RSS Automat

  • Noah Baumbach Said to Sell Memoir to Knopf June 5, 2023 Deadline
  • Rushdie: "I’m trying to write a book about the attack on me -- what happened and what it means, not just about the attack, but around it" June 2, 2023 Guardian
  • Hollywood Studios Are Using Force Majeure Clauses to Extend Book Options for Free During Writers' Strike May 30, 2023 WSJ
  • On the Staying Power of Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow" May 26, 2023 NYT
  • Another Postponement: Publishers and Internet Archive Still Negotiating Judgement, Will Try Again for June 9 May 26, 2023 PL court document
  • Martin Amis, 73, Dies of Esophogeal Cancer May 21, 2023 BBC
  • Britney Spears Concedes Delay On Her Book: "It may take me a year, maybe longer who knows ... to share my story" May 20, 2023 Instagram
  • Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson Announced for Publication September 12 May 18, 2023 Press release
  • Penguin Random House and PEN America Sue a Florida School District, Alleging Removal of Books about Race and LGBTQ+ Identify Violates First Amendment May 17, 2023 AP
  • Thomas Coesfeld to Become CEO of BMG On July 1, Ahead of Previous Schedule May 17, 2023 Press Release
© 2023 Publishers Lunch. All Rights Reserved.