Quote:
Originally Posted by DiapDealer
Wouldn't they have to have had a monopoly before they can re-establish one? And couldn't the same sort of legal proceedings then be used to reign Amazon in (or break them up) if indeed they ever did gain monopolistic proportions?
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Plus having a monopoly isn't (afaik) illegal as long as a company doesn't abuse that monopoly position to enter other markets.
The DOJ are looking at what has happened not what might happen. If the result of this is that Amazon gains a monopoly _and_ abuses it, then the chances are high they'll find themselves on the end of a law suit.
However if agency pricing is dropped and Amazon gained a monopoly plus either increased prices or squeezed publishers hard, there's also chance another company would see an opportunity to enter or re-enter the market with price competition as one potential avenue.
There's also now the chance that some publishers may compete with other publishers on price grounds by returning to the wholesale model. This isn't only about the lack of competition with amazon but the lack of competition between publishers. Even if a publisher couldn't afford to sell at a loss, by returning to wholesale they could allow retailers to do the work for them.