THe best report I havev seen on the settlement negotiations has been at WIRED.
LINK
The key terms of the settlement are:
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1.Eliminating the “most favored nation” clause between Apple and the five publishers, which guarantees that the publishers cannot sell e-books at other retailers at prices lower than those offered in Apple’s bookstore;
2.Temporarily pausing or modifying agency relationships between publishers and retailers. The WSJ’s sources call this a “cooling-off period.” The intent would be to ensure that any new agreements would be negotiated at arm’s length, unlike the initial simultaneous move to agency and price maintenance in 2010 — which raised concerns that the publishers illegally coordinated their actions.
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You all should RTWT.
My conclusions:
1. The agency model will survive . All the DOJ wants that the publishers revert TEMPORARILY ton the wholesale model . After six months or a year, they are free to return to the agency model.
2. Apple opposes these terms right now because:
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First, Apple does not want to be a wholesale purchaser of e-books, even for six months or a year. It doesn’t want to price e-books, and it doesn’t want to bear the risk that e-books don’t sell. It’s not equipped for that.
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3. Eliminating the MFN clause is the most likely result of the settlement-despite the fact that MFN clauses are legal and commonplace.