Update: In Response to E-Book Lawsuit, Apple Denies Collusion

By Rob Scott
April 16, 2012

Last week, ETCentric reported that the U.S. Department of Justice was pursuing Apple and five publishers on charges of e-book price fixing.
Apple is denying any wrong-doing, as are three of the publishers.
“Apple says that it did not collude to fix the price of e-books — it simply helped break Amazon’s ‘monopolistic’ stranglehold on the publishing industry, while also offering a superior product to consumers,” reports Digital Trends.
Publishers Macmillan and Penguin are opting to fight the suit in court, while the remaining three (Hachette, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster) have agreed to settle out of court.
“The DOJ’s accusation of collusion against Apple is simply not true,” said Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr. “The launch of the iBookstore in 2010 fostered innovation and competition, breaking Amazon’s monopolistic grip on the publishing industry. Since then customers have benefited from e-books that are more interactive and engaging. Just as we’ve allowed developers to set prices on the App Store, publishers set prices on the iBookstore.”
“It’s worth noting that Apple’s pricing policy with books and apps differs from the setup it has with the music industry,” adds AllThingsD in a related report. “In that relationship, Apple pays the music labels a wholesale price for their digital assets, and then sets the retail price itself.”

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