Following a complaint lodged by Germany’s Publishers and Booksellers Association in September, the country’s Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) announced on Monday that it “has initiated administrative proceedings against the Amazon subsidiary Audible.com and Apple Computer Inc,” regarding their “long-term agreement” that has Audible as the exclusive supplier of audiobooks to the iTunes Store. President of the Federal Cartel Office Andreas Mundt says in the statement: “Both companies hold a strong position in the market for digital audiobooks in Germany. We therefore see ourselves obliged to examine more closely the agreement between these two competitors. The audiobook publishers need to have sufficient alternative channels for […]
