DOJ Sticks To Its Guns In Price-Fixing Suit Against Apple, Won’t Modify eBook Settlement
According to the U.S. Justice Department’s latest filing in its suit against Apple and a number of major publishers over alleged price fixing in the eBook market, the DOJ won’t make any major changes to its proposed settlement after receiving and analyzing 868 public comments about the suit. The settlement is currently under review in a federal court in New York and today’s document outlines some of the public comments the DOJ received after the settlement was announced. Earlier this year, three of the publishers named in the suit (Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster) quickly agreed with the Justice Department’s proposed terms and settled. Apple, Macmillan and Penguin Group decided to fight the charges, however. According to the Justice Department, Apple’s entry in to the eBook market led to a sudden and steep increase in the retail prices of eBooks, “affecting millions of consumers.” The government argues that “the seismic shift in e-book prices was not the result of ma...