Reuters cites two unidentified sources who says that the European Commission has accepted Apple and four publishers’ proposed ebook pricing settlement.
As previously reported, the impending EU settlement includes Apple, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette and Macmillan’s parent company, Holtzbrinck. Apple and Holtzbrinck are settling in Europe, but not in the United States. The U.S. Department of Justice reached a settlement with HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster and it was approved in September. Penguin is not settling in Europe or in the U.S.
The European Commission began its formal antitrust investigation last December and, like the U.S. Department of Justice, accused Apple and publishers of colluding to fix ebook prices. Like the U.S. settlement, the proposed EU settlement requires Apple and settling publishers to terminate their agency agreements and, for two years, prevents publishers from “restrict[ing], limit[ing] or imped[ing] ebook retailers’ ability to set, alter or reduce retail prices for ebooks and/or to offer discounts or promotions.”
In September, the EC gave consumers a month to comment on the proposed settlement. I’m not sure if those comments were made available to the public, but haven’t yet been able to find them online.
 |
 |