US senator tells DOJ to drop e-books suit

Written by

Dara Kerr for CNet:

New York Sen. Charles Schumer reprimanded the Department of Justice today for filing its e-book antitrust lawsuit against Apple. Using strong language in a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, he wrote that “the suit could wipe out the publishing industry as we know it.”

Schumer’s fear is that the DoJ will act to restore Amazon’s stranglehold on the e-book industry with its Kindle devices.

“If that happens, consumers will be forced to accept whatever prices Amazon sets,” wrote Schumer.



  • Chris Johnson

    Note that Chuck is looking out for his constituents: the publishing industry is based in New York City

    • http://twitter.com/Moeskido Moeskido

      As both a consumer and a graphic designer, I have no problem with that.

  • satcomer

    Chuck is protecting his special interest. :(

  • deviladv

    Okay, so Amazon was controlling book prices, but it was pushing them LOWER than they currently are. They were around 9.99. Average prices are around $13-$14 now. Amazon had a natural monopoly on ebooks for a little bit but instead of driving the prices up, they drove prices down. Why isn’t anyone looking at this? Everyone is painting Amazon as the bad guy and so far the only real loser here is the consumer base.

    Who would you rather win? Amazon who is trying to make ebooks cheaper, or the publishers who have an oligopoly on publishing? Here’s to hoping ebooks grow much faster so we all see a lot more in eformat and authors can self publish a whole lot more.

    • http://twitter.com/iSplatts Adam S-P

      The issue wasn’t just focused on what us as consumers have to pay, but what the authors get payed … and that was the BIG problem with Amazon’s model. They undercut authors and set unfair pricing that no-one else could compete with. Even though the cost to consumers MAY have risen, it’s a better deal for all involved.

    • lucascott

      It’s not that simple. what if Amazon decided to price everything at $19.99. they had required they have that kind of control.

      Also, they were acting in ways that were anti-competitive and potentially hurting other companies. Their low prices forced others to price that low or most definitely lose sales. But other companies didn’t have the vast range of other stuff Amazon does to make up the costs of such loss leader pricing. Trying to keep up with that means companies going out of at least the ebook business and how does that help the consumer. Particularly when the only company left is one that has total pricing control.

      If you don’t like the way the publishers price their ebooks, take it up with them. or even more simply don’t buy ebooks and stick with paper. Or even checking them out of the library