Apple eBook price fixing case going to court

[tubemonkey]

The agency model didn't affect me at all. If I feel prices are unreasonable, I won't buy the product. After all, reading is an optional life activity and there isn't any book that's a must read for me. There's always a cheaper alternative.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

The agency model didn't affect me at all. If I feel prices are unreasonable, I won't buy the product. After all, reading is an optional life activity and there isn't any book that's a must read for me. There's always a cheaper alternative.

Just because it didn't bother you doesn't mean it didn't affect you.

Agency pricing may have changed a book you would have otherwise bought to one that you skipped for being unreasonably priced.

Maybe that book was one that would have changed your life.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by ApK

Maybe that book was one that would have changed your life.

Fiction doesn't have any importance in my life. It's just entertainment.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Fiction doesn't have any importance in my life. It's just entertainment.

Then maybe it meant something to the author of that book you didn't read.
He was at the end of his rope. He swore that if he didn't sell x number of copies that month, he would consider himself a failure, and give up. Thanks to you not buying that copy, he only sold x-1. He quits, get's depressed, gets into his car and drives for hours, tears in his eyes, exhausted, distracted by his bleak future, and he runs over you.

See, it still may affect you.

(Bring it on...you will not win this argument....)

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by ApK

Then maybe it meant something to the author of that book you didn't read.
He was at the end of his rope. He swore that if he didn't sell x number of copies that month, he would consider himself a failure, and give up. Thanks to you not buying that copy, he only sold x-1. He quits, get's depressed, gets into his car and drives for hours, tears in his eyes, exhausted, distracted by his bleak future, and he runs over you.

See, it still may affect you.

(Bring it on...you will not win this argument....)

I live in a tree in the jungle. Not many roads there.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Don't you mean "alleged conspiracy"? Surely they are entitled to a presumption of innocence. That's why we have trials.

I'm sorry but I'm not the judge.
So I'm allowed to jump ahead to the likely outcome. If you look at my posts, I'm not debating anybody's innocence--I had them pegged as guilty from the day the conpiracy announced the Price Fix--I'm wondering what the penalties will be like.

I'm hoping Apple will have to divest itself of iBooks and every Apple exec will be shadowed by a DOJ "intern" for the next century.

(Not to beat a dead horse, but collusion is a standard business practice at Apple: http://www.businessinsider.com/new-e...ges-low-2012-1)

What I fear is they'll get fined a billion and a half and told not to do it again.

What I expect is something in the middle since they are a serial colluder.
But unless Judge Cote has a Cayman Islands bank account that just got a big infusion of cash via Ireland, "innocent" is not anywhere on my radar for this case.

Sorry.
(Page 81 of the DOJ brief and Mr Shanks' testimony makes it pretty much an open and shut case for me.)

Five publishers named in the lawsuit have settled. The judge had urged Apple to do the same, though she assured Apple a fair trial Monday, saying: "The deck is not stacked against Apple unless the evidence stacks the deck against Apple."

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/...ource=autofeed

[ApK]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I live in a tree in the jungle. Not many roads there.

The author gave up writing and became a lumberjack....

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Fiction doesn't have any importance in my life. It's just entertainment.

It affected the industry as a whole and if I remember correctly contributed to your "free" Kindle.

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

What I fear is they'll get fined a billion and a half and told not to do it again.

What I expect is something in the middle since they are a serial colluder.
But unless Judge Cote has a Cayman Islands bank account that just got a big infusion of cash via Ireland, "innocent" is not anywhere on my radar for this case.

The DOJ is not seeking monetary damages. And if Apple doesn't care for the executive shadowing there will certainly be an appeal filed. I'm sure its already been scheduled. Today, I just heard that it's expected to reach the Supreme Court in 3 years or so.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Fbone

The DOJ is not seeking monetary damages. And if Apple doesn't care for the executive shadowing there will certainly be an appeal filed. I'm sure its already been scheduled. Today, I just heard that it's expected to reach the Supreme Court in 3 years or so.

That is likely their intent; drag it out so they can keep on doing business as usual as long as possible.
One problem with that strategy; the DOJ can shortcircuit the appeals process by petitioning directly to the SCOTUS. That is what they did in the Microsoft case. In that event the case could be over as early as october.

[fjtorres]

Update from CNET:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57...ook-execs-say/

Both publisher CEOs also testified that Apple kept them updated about negotiations with other publishers. Apple didn't spell out the terms of the other deals, they said, but based on conversations with the company, they knew it was pursuing similar agreements with all publishing houses. It also told them how many deals it had signed, and they were able to figure out who the other parties were.

Apple and the DOJ face off over e-book prices (FAQ)
Confused by this complicated case? CNET explains it all.
"At the first meeting, [Apple executive Eddy] Cue said Apple was trying to do the same deal with everybody," Shanks said Tuesday.
And the Justice Department cited an e-mail from Reidy to Apple's Cue that said she would "look forward to an update on your progress in herding us cats." She admitted that Cue had told her how many other companies had reached deals with Apple.

In other words, Apple served as architect and coordinator of the price fix so all the publishers could rest assured the others were onboard.
Yup, that is classic hub and spokes conspiracy.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

What's funniest is that the publishers were all tricked into believing that their best course of action was to illegally (potentially illegal, to be generous) conspire to create a situation where Amazon could make even more money selling their books ... all to gain a tiny sliver (a tiny, almost ALL profit sliver, mind you) of the ebook pie for Apple. How do you kill a giant? Apparently by helping them make even more money selling a product they've already proven themselves to be more adept than everybody else at selling.

Actually, before the agency model went into effect, Fictionwise was the best place to buy eBooks (overall).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Don't you mean "alleged conspiracy"? Surely they are entitled to a presumption of innocence. That's why we have trials.

But in this case, we know it's not alleged. We know they conspired. We have to have the trial yes, but there is no doubt of their guilt.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ottdmk

While I'm not a fan of the higher prices the Agency model brought, in a way I'm grateful to it. Without it, it's entirely possible that we'd be at the mercy of an Amazon monopsony. Without Agency I doubt that Kobo would exist in its current form, and Barnes & Nobel might have been forced out of the ebook business ages ago. There would be Amazon and the small niche publishers like Baen, and that's it.

If Agency didn't exist, we'd have Fictionwise doing what Fictionwise did best. But because of that, we don't have Fictionwise any longer.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by ApK

Then maybe it meant something to the author of that book you didn't read.
He was at the end of his rope. He swore that if he didn't sell x number of copies that month, he would consider himself a failure, and give up. Thanks to you not buying that copy, he only sold x-1. He quits, get's depressed, gets into his car and drives for hours, tears in his eyes, exhausted, distracted by his bleak future, and he runs over you.

See, it still may affect you.

(Bring it on...you will not win this argument....)

That sounds just like a Direct TV advert.