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Apple rejects e-book pricing collusion charge

Customers visit the Apple Store in New York City's Grand Central Station January 25, 2012. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Customers visit the Apple Store in New York City's Grand Central Station January 25, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Brendan McDermid

Fri Apr 13, 2012 8:44am EDT

(Reuters) - Apple Inc has rejected the U.S. Justice Department's allegations that it colluded with publishers over electronic book pricing, calling the charges "simply not true."

The U.S. government had sued Apple and five publishers, saying they conspired to fix the prices of electronic books. It has reached a settlement with three of the publishers that could lead to cheaper e-books for consumers.

In an email to Reuters, Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr confirmed the company's position, which earlier appeared in a Wall Street Journal article.

"The launch of the iBookstore in 2010 fostered innovation and competition, breaking Amazon's monopolistic grip on the publishing industry," Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris told the Journal.

Kerris defended the current pricing structure as parallel to Apple's mobile software store.

"Just as we have allowed developers to set prices on the App Store, publishers set prices on the iBookstore," she told newspaper.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad; Editing by Ron Popeski and Lisa Von Ahn)
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Comments (3)
appleisgod wrote:
Everything that has been said about Apple is always not true according to Apple. It seem that they are like GOD, they don’t commit any “sins”.

Apr 13, 2012 7:30am EDT  --  Report as abuse
zyx wrote:
“Disputes”, not “rejects”. Almost the right word is not the right word.

Apr 13, 2012 8:22am EDT  --  Report as abuse
bocomojoe wrote:
Having settled with 3 publishers is kinda’ like 3 nails in the coffin for Apple.

Apr 13, 2012 12:08pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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