Quote:
Originally Posted by Grumpyreader
This could be very good news or very bad. Even if the OFT decide the Agency Model is anti-competitive it might not cause prices to fall.
If the OFT finds that the practice isn't anti-competitive, nothing will change.
If the OFT finds that it is anti-competitive, this might cause the publishers to stop selling in the UK. Unlikely considering the growing size of the market but still possible...
The ideal is that the OFT finds that the Model is anti-competitive, the publishers agree to continue selling in the UK and that they allow retailers to reduce prices as they wish. This would only affect non-UK residents who managed to get around the geo-restrictions on buying from UK retailers.
There would be no obligation on any other nation's legislature (e.g. the two States in the US who are currently looking into it) to follow the OFTs decision as the OFT only have jurisdiction in the UK (and I'm not sure about Scotland)...
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Scotland is in the UK .... as are Wales, England and Northern Ireland.
The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are not.