Apple Sued By Department Of Justice For Price-Fixing E-Books

In what looks to be a stroke of misfortune for Apple, the U.S. Department Of Justice (DOJ) has decided to bring a lawsuit against Apple alongside a group of publishing companies for trying to price fix e-books. The lawsuit involves Apple, CBS’s Simon & Schuster, News Corp’s HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group, Pearson’s Penguin unit and Macmillan. The suit, which revolves around the 2010 release of Apple’s iPad, stems from an agreement made between the five publishers and Apple regarding prices of e-books on the iBooks store. Apple together with the publishers then worked to raise the prices on e-books in order to force others like Amazon to do the same. The DOJ are not the only ones in legal battles with Apple, the Attorney Generals of Connecticut and Texas are also in litigation with the afformentioned companies as well. Even more damning is the fact the European authorities are also looking at Apple and various publishers for antitrust violations. While a few of the publisher have settled, Apple, Pearson and Macmillan have not, and with the DOJ “vigorously” pursing the lawsuit I have to wonder how hard these companies will get hit. More information on the lawsuit can be found at the source.