Amazon to Cut E-Book Prices, Shaking Rivals

1. In the case of Apple and five major book publishers, the government claims that collusive behavior led to higher e-book prices for consumers, and the participants are being charged with price-fixing.

(Travis Lawton)

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU regulators are open to a settlement with e-book publishers owned by Lagardere , News Corp and three other firms if they offer concessions to resolve competition concerns, the EU's antitrust chief said on Monday. Since last December, the European Commission has been investigating whether the publishers fixed prices with Apple Inc for electronic books, an action that might have blocked rivals such as Amazon and hurt consumers. Lagardere's Hachette Livre unit and News Corp's Harper Collins are being investigated. ...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Eu

Donald Marron submits:A few months ago, I noted that Amazon (AMZN) and book publishers were tussling over the pricing of electronic books. Amazon had originally acquired e-books using a wholesale pricing model.