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Apple Fires Back At DoJ Over eBook Price Fixing

Posted by Soulskill on from the best-defense-is-a-good-offense dept.

An anonymous reader writes "CNN takes a look at Apple's response to the Department of Justice's investigation into eBook price fixing. The filing 'cuts the government's case to shreds' while at the same time not bothering to defend the five publishers also under investigation. Apple said, 'The Government starts from the false premise (PDF) that an eBooks "market" was characterized by "robust price competition" prior to Apple's entry. This ignores a simple and incontrovertible fact: before 2010, there was no real competition, there was only Amazon. At the time Apple entered the market, Amazon sold nearly nine out of every ten eBooks, and its power over price and product selection was nearly absolute.'"

6 of 311 comments (clear)

  1. A lot of words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    That's a lot of words that don't change the fact that virtually every eBook you could ever want to buy costs more now than it did before Apple entered the market, which is the actual problem that the DOJ case intended to address.

    1. Re:A lot of words by DesertJazz · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Unfortunately I think the argument that Apple itself isn't responsible will probably be considered true in the end. The book publishers on the other hand can, and should, still get nailed to the wall. Charging as much for an ebook as a physical book is completely off-base. You still have to make the money back on editors, artwork, advertisement, etc., but the physical print, transportation, and storage costs should cause those books to be discounted a good amount. As it is, much of the time you can buy a print edition cheaper than an eBook version on new releases...

      Apple certainly deserves some of the blame, but I just can't see the DOJ managing to make it stick against them in this case.

    2. Re:A lot of words by k4hg · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The books were cheap because Amazon was selling them at a loss to prevent the entry of competition. Amazon has a long-term strategy to work on razor-thin margins driving out all competition. In the last quarter they made about 1% of gross- they made a penny out of every dollar people spent. No small or medium business in their right mind would enter a market like that. So overall Amazon does not turn a lot of profit, but their stock is valuable (much more than their profit would justify) because investors expect that once they have completed driving all their competitors out of business they will raise their margin (meaning the prices you pay go up). So you are going to pay more, a little bit now because of the agency model and most favored nation status thanks to Apple, or a lot more later when no one but Amazon has physical or electronic books to sell you.

    3. Re:A lot of words by ColdWetDog · · Score: 5, Insightful

      There has grown up in the minds of certain groups in this country the notion that because a man or corporation has made a profit out of the public for a number of years, the government and the courts are charged with the duty of guaranteeing such profit in the future, even in the face of changing circumstances and contrary to public interest. This strange doctrine is not supported by statute or common law. Neither individuals nor corporations have any right to come into court and ask that the clock of history be stopped, or turned back.

      R.A. Heinlein

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    4. Re:A lot of words by Richard_at_work · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Before iBooks, I bought a lot of stuff from Ereader.com, and here are some of my comparisons (in GBP)

      Revelation [Mass Effect Series Book 1] £2.99 - iTunes price £4.99
      Ascension [Mass Effect Series Book 2] £2.99 - iTunes price £4.99
      Pandoras Star £4.99 - iTunes price £8.99
      Judas Unchained £4.99 - iTunes price £8.99

      Those examples were purchased in 2008, the iTunes prices are right now. I could go rough the other 50 or so books I purchased if you wish?

      None of the purchases I made on Ereader are currently available for new purchase - I can still download my purchased copies under my account, but you couldn't buy them now.

      I think the DOJ have a fairly decent case here.

  2. Re:I only download free books by ticker47 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes, because you know that those books available on Project Gutenberg were never sold, no one tried to buy one and it was only when they were available online for free that people tried to read them.