Huge ebook news this morning! The US Department of Justice has officially filed anti-trust lawsuits against Apple and Hachette Books, as well as some sort of legal action against MacMillan, Harper Collins, and Penguin. All of these charges are related to the Agency Model, where prices are set by the publisher and discounts at the retail level are disallowed.
I am not surprised that it has come to this. All the publishers were very insistent they did not do anything wrong, and that it was purely coincidence that all of them developed the same exact pricing plan at the same exact time, with the same exact terms, all of which happened to have been requested (supposedly) by Apple. Of course. These things happen. It’s just like the guys who just happened to be at a bank with masks and weapons. They didn’t intend to rob anyone, it was just a coincidence they were all there armed to the teeth.
And believe me, this is robbery. The Consumer Federation of America was out at the start of the week urging the DOJ to take anti-trust action, claiming the Agency Model is anti-consumer. It really is, and I am sorry to be so harsh but anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is a liar or someone who works for a publisher. It is not the job of the consumer to prop up businesses in turmoil. It is not the job of the consumer to pay more money because one competitor was deemed “too successful” by everyone else in the industry. It is not the job of the consumer to be used as a pawn to punish Amazon.
The Department of Justice is doing their job, and I am thrilled to see that. The end result may not end up making a difference immediately. Unwinding any contracts deemed illegal will be complex, and it is entirely possible that similar terms will replace the old contracts. The actual “Agency Model” isn’t totally illegal, it’s the part where everyone coordinated (and tried to guarantee no one could undersell Apple) that got the DOJ involved. So don’t pop the good champagne and start celebrating $9.99 ebooks again, at least not yet.
But still, there’s some really satisfying karma in all this…publishers colluded to stop Amazon, claiming Amazon was the evil monopoly…only to get caught in their own anti-trust web!
UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Simon and Schuster, Harpercollins, and Hachette have all settled. No details yet but it appears the settlement included terminating their ebook agreement with Apple. It is unclear what this will do to the rest of their contracts with Amazon, Kobo, and B&N, but we will keep you informed!
Via Engadget