Quote:
Originally Posted by Graham
Straw man. The case was about illegal collusion, not publishers individually setting higher prices for their books.
Books will be published, following more efficient routes to the market. Just like any other business, the big publishing houses have to react to changes in the marketplace and compete.
Graham
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People pretend the 5 BPHs are the only trad publishers out there. They're not.
People pretend the only ebook retailers are Amazon and Apple. They're not.
The trial was about illegal *behavior*.
The remedies are about *stopping* that behavior and making sure it doesn't return and about restoring price competition as required by law.
The BPHs were reasonably smart and settled before going to trial.
Apple did not settle and are now on the hook as *convicted* antitrust violators and as the *ringleaders* of the hub and spoke conspiracy.
The judge is now required to find a set of remedies that (at a minimum) prevents the Gang of 5 from ever using Apple as a hub for collusion and (with luck) discourages some *other* player (Google?) from acting as a hub. To achieve those goals, everything is in play. Everything.
No amount of spin, no amount of PR, no amount of negotiation is going to change those two facts: Apple was found guilty and they *will* be punished. Severely.
The chips will fall where they will after that.
That, people, is the "new normal", as they say on TV.
Deal with it.