It’s rare to see the NYT and WSJ philosophically aligned on how the government uses its power, but they and others in press seem to be coming together to raise questions about why the Department of Justice is beating up on publishers, apparently serving the interests of a retailer bigger than the entire industry. Holman Jenkins Jr. writes in the WSJ, “in essence, Justice says that, beginning in 2008, several plankton, in the form of five publishers, conspired against a whale, Amazon, whose monopoly clout had imposed a $9.99 retail price for e-books.” He argues: “Given Amazon’s dominance, it’s hardly […]
Legal
Meanwhile, The EU Looks to Settle With Every Publisher Except Penguin
Following yesterday’s news from the Department of Justice, the European Commission’s parallel investigation of agency ebook price may be close to a settlement among most of the parties involved as well. Multiple news reports indicate that Apple and Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster – but not Penguin – have all sent proposals to the EC to settle the case. S&S spokesperson Adam Rothberg told Bloomberg they are in “active and productive discussions” with the EC. Joaquin Almunia, the EU’s competition chief, said in a statement that he welcomed an early resolution and was engaged in “fruitful discussions” with the […]
Penguin’s Makinson: “We Have Done Nothing Wrong”
Penguin Group ceo John Makinson issued a statement about the lawsuit his company faces from the Department of Justice and a group of attorneys general on Wednesday. He writes: “A responsible company does not choose a path of litigation with US Government agencies without carefully weighing the implications of that course of action.” But, Makinson says, “we have done nothing wrong. The decisions that we took, many them of them costly and difficult, were taken by Penguin alone.” As for Justice’s complaint filed today, “the document contains a number of material misstatements and omissions, which we look forward to having […]
A Few Things About the Publisher Settlement Become A Little Clearer
pdating our stories from the heat of battle Wednesday, there are a few things about the settlement between HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group, Simon & Schuster and the Department of Justice that we can clarify. First of all, don’t expect any immediate changes at any ebookstore, including Apple’s iBookstore. All of the requirements for contractual changes will come only after entry of final judgment, which is subject to a review period of 60 days. During that period, “any person who wishes to comment” is welcome to write to: John Read Chief Litigation III Section Antitrust Division U.S. Department of Justice 450 […]
States’ Lawsuit Tells Similar Story, But Shares Other Details
The separate lawsuit alleging horizontal conspiracy against Apple and the original five agency publishers has been filed–and will be litigated–in Texas, where the Attorney General’s office began a “non-public investigation” in March 2010 (first revealed by PL in June 2010). The filing dovetails in many respects with the Department of Justice’s Federal lawsuit, though they depict portions of the story in their own way. By their telling it was “by no later than the end of summer 2009” that the “conspiring publishers reached an agreement that something had to be done to end Amazon’s $9.99 pricing of NYT-bestsellers.” Among other […]
Hachette Admits No Liability, and Asks Government to Ensure “We don’t return to the days of monopoly”; Harper “Made A Business Decision”
Hachette Book Group says in a statement that “after much deliberation” they have “reluctantly agreed to join the settlement of this matter with the U.S. Department of Justice, and to begin the process of settling with the State Attorneys General.” But “Hachette was not involved in a conspiracy to illegally fix the price of eBooks, and we have made no admission of liability.” In a separate statement, HarperCollins also says the company “did not violate any anti- trust laws and will comply with its obligations under the agreement. HarperCollins’ business terms and policies have been, and continue to be, designed […]