06-03-2013, 02:01 PM | #1 |
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Apple eBook price fixing case going to court
There is a long thread on this topic already but reading clear through it is daunting. I thought it might be worth starting a new discussion just as the case is going to court. Is it possible that Apple is taking an "they made me do it" defense, blaming Amazon for the whole thing? Sounds like it from this article in the Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...027_story.html |
06-03-2013, 02:17 PM | #2 |
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Apple got a late start with ebooks. Since they don't like selling things on the cheap, they colluded with the publishers to force everyone else to sell at the same high prices; thereby leveling the playing field to something Apple could live with.
Ultimate loser? the consumer! |
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06-03-2013, 02:21 PM | #3 | |
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06-03-2013, 02:22 PM | #4 |
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Given that it would almost certainly be cheaper for them to pay the fine, as the publishers involved in the case have done, it would seem reasonable to think that they believe that they have a good chance of being found innocent.
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06-03-2013, 03:17 PM | #5 | |
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They are hoping that the judge won't require the same kind of broad oversight. Or maybe they hope they can delay iimplementation of the penalties. Or, they just might be deluded enough to think the evidence can be spun to mean something other than what it means. Here, you decide: http://www.scribd.com/doc/145486131/...Opening-Slides http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57...against-apple/ From the legal standpoint the case is simple: executives from 6 publishers held discussion with Apple that resulted in an agreement for 5 of them to raise ebook prices to the exact same level at the exact same time. Coordination through Apple is documented. Price increase as a result of the coordinated action documented. That equals price fixing under American law. There is documented evidence that Penguin, for one, said it would not join unless there were three or more others and there is documented evidence that Apple reassured them that everybody else was on board. (Except Random House, on advise of counsel apparently, bowed out the day before the launch.) Afterwards, Penguin asked B&N to put pressure on RH to join the conspiracy (which they willingly did) and Apple refused to accepta Randome House iPad app until RH signed up for iBooks. Apple's entire response has been to cover their ears and chant: "Amazon is evil. Amazon is evil. Amazon is evil." But since Amazon was not a party to the conspiracy, whether they are evil or not is irrelevant. That mudslinging part of the trial shouldn't last long. After that, there may be a lot of executives pleading the Fifth on grounds of self-incrimination. |
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06-03-2013, 03:40 PM | #6 |
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You only plead the 5th if you are guilty and so they either plead the 5th and we know they are guilty or they tell us what's what and we'll still know they are guilty.
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06-03-2013, 04:37 PM | #7 |
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Sorry Jon. Pleading the fifth doesn't make guilty. You *really* shouldn't be giving incorrect interpretations of th U.S. Constitution.
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06-03-2013, 05:12 PM | #8 | |
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You might well take the 5th to avoid incriminating yourself in some unrelated matter that the court isn't even aware of. ApK |
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06-03-2013, 05:37 PM | #9 | |
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From the Washington Post article linked in the OP:
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Graham |
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06-03-2013, 05:38 PM | #10 | ||
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Quote:
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06-03-2013, 05:58 PM | #11 | |
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Apple isn't worried about what the DOJ wants to do about iBooks; they are worried about what they'll do about the *rest* of their business. Most notably iOS and the appstore. This isn't the first case of collusion Apple has been involved in and if there are other "gentlemen's agreements" in place, an exec could easily find themselves admitting to further, unrelated wrong-doing. We *could* start a pool on how many plead the fifth before the trial ends. |
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06-03-2013, 07:07 PM | #12 | |
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In the end, Agency pricing is alive and well in the US. I'm beginning to think that regardless of the lawsuit's outcome Apple still wins. |
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06-03-2013, 07:44 PM | #13 | |
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They had no presence in ebooks and are now without question the only real alternative to Amazon in the US and one of only two serious challengers on the global scale. No way do they get there without the conspiracy. The bad publicity will fade with the next "miraculous release" but the 15%-and-growing market share will remain. The only player that made out better than Apple out of the conspiracy is Amazon. And that because they didn't have to break the law to reap its many benefits. (The list of losers starts with consumers and goes on from there, most prominently including everybody else in the conspiracy.) Last edited by fjtorres; 06-03-2013 at 07:47 PM. |
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06-03-2013, 07:56 PM | #14 |
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Do you think Steve Jobs had this all planned including the lawsuit and result?
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06-03-2013, 08:02 PM | #15 | |
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And, no, I don't think Jobs had it all planned out. Hitch |
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