[Ninjalawyer]

Good post, very informative.

I would say though that there is some indication that publishers have illegally colluded; the Department of Justice is already investigating the issue, as is the European Union. So not exactly "no evidence to suggest that" anti-competitive behaviour took place.

Your point about retailers taking on much less risk is a good one. But, your example of Apple pricing tracks at $0.99 is not relevant; Apple is a retailer and not a competitor to content producers, it can set its pricing policy as it likes.

The allegations (so far) are that Apple colluded with 5 major publishers to ensure that retailers like Amazon and Kobo couldn't undercut Apple's prices. This is different than the iTunes example as it is the publishers (each notionally a competitor of the other) made an agreement with the effect of reducing competition in the marketplace and raising the price of some ebooks.