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From Politico:

Court hands Amazon major e-book victory

A judge approved a massive Department of Justice e-book settlement. | AP, Reuters Photos
By DAVID SALEH RAUF | 9/9/12 10:47 PM EDT

Chalk up a colossal victory for Amazon in its ongoing war against Apple for control of pricing in the e-books market.

In a ruling that shakes up the entire publishing industry, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote on Thursday approved the Justice Department’s settlement with a trio of publishers accused of conspiring with Apple to jack up digital book prices.

With her ruling, Cote set in motion the termination of contracts between Apple and three of the nation’s largest publishers — HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster — and placed control of pricing for e-books back in the hands of retailers, particularly Amazon.

“This is huge for Amazon,” said Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild, which opposed the settlement out of fear that Amazon’s pricing structure could put brick-and-mortar book stores out of business. “And a big blow for Apple.”


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http://www.politico.com/news/stories...61.html?hp=r10