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E.U.: Amazon wins in longstanding e-book antitrust case against Apple, sources say

By  |  November 6, 2012

Sources say Apple Inc. and four publishers of e-books offered a settlement last month with the European Commission, offering to discontinue certain policies that restricted Amazon’s ability to set competitive prices on e-books. As part of the deal, Apple, along with the four publishers – Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette Livre and Macmillan – have agreed to allow Amazon and other retailers to set their own prices for the next two years. Additionally, they have agreed to suspend Apple’s “most-favored nation” contracts, which forced retailers like Amazon to give Apple the price advantage when changes in product prices occurred. The policies were under investigation by the European Commission since last December to determine whether they violated competition law; critics argued that the policies prevented Apple’s rivals from competitively pricing e-books. Sources say the European Commission is likely to accept the deal, but will announce its decision next month.

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