Fifteen states and Puerto Rico — are suing Apple Inc. and three major publishers for alleged antitrust violations in the electronic books, or e-books, market.
The lawsuit says Apple, which has four metro Atlanta stores, and publishers Simon & Shuster, Penguin and Macmillan conspired to change the way e-books are priced, costing consumers more than $100 million in overcharges.
States involved in the suit are Ohio, Texas, Connecticut, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont and West Virginia.
For a copy of the lawsuit, click here.
“What was at first a great benefit to buyers of electronic books – lower prices – apparently was considered too much of a benefit,” said Mike DeWine, Ohio’s Attorney General, in a Wednesday statement. “Customers who pay out their hard-earned money, no matter the product or service, deserve better.”
The arrangement among the three publishers was facilitated by Apple in the course of negotiations to make e-books available for its iPad tablet computer, according to the lawsuit. Under the arrangement, resellers were no longer able to set the retail prices of the e-books they sold. Instead, resellers would receive a percentage of the sale price set by the publishers.
After the switch, e-book bestseller prices rose from what had commonly been $9.99 to $12.99 or even $14.99.
The lawsuit seeks to return overcharges to e-books customers and prevent future violations by ending current publisher-reseller contracts and requiring they be renegotiated.
The states have reached an agreement in principle with publishers Harper Collins and Hachette to provide significant consumer restitution as well as injunctive relief.