United States Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) has written an open letter to the Department of Justice, which was published by
The Wall Street Journal, telling the agency to drop the eBook price-fixing lawsuit against Apple (AAPL) and two other major book publishers.
Schumer warns that the suit could “wipe out the publishing industry as
we know it, making it much harder for young authors to get published.”
The senator also notes that ”the suit will restore Amazon to the
dominant position atop the e-books market, if that happens, consumers
will be forced to accept whatever prices Amazon sets.”
Schumer believes Amazon’s “monopoly in digital publishing” is not in the
best interest of publishers and authors, who are forced to make a
“Hobson’s choice” and settle for Amazon’s low eBook prices, thus
undercutting their own hardcopy sales. Due to increased competition from
Apple, however, Amazon was forced to “expand its catalog, invest in
innovation, and reduce the prices of its Kindle reading devices.”
1 comment:
According to one Wall Street Journal columnist in private, Charles Schumer is a "disappointment" and left many people disillusioned, including that columnist.
Personally, I just think the guy's a sellout.
Post a Comment