PA Join Lawsuit on E-Book Pricing
HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania today joined Attorneys General from 14 states and Puerto Rico in a lawsuit charging three of the nation's largest book publishers and Apple Inc. with colluding to fix the sales prices of electronic books. Attorney General Linda Kelly said that the antitrust action is the result of a two-year investigation into allegations that publishers Penguin, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan conspired with other publishers and Apple to artificially raise e-book prices. Kelly said that for years, retailers sold e-books through a traditional wholesale distribution model, under which retailers ?-not publishers - set e-books' sales prices. The states allege that the defendants colluded to use a different distribution model to eliminate free market competition and allow publishers, not the marketplace set the price of e-books. According to the lawsuit, the cost of New York Times Bestselling e-books rose from $9.99 to as much as $14.99 per book once Apple and the publi...