Recently, Apple has become the main target in a class-action law suit. Allegations claim that the tech giant and other five big publishers have colluded in order to illegally fix prices for ebooks. The lawsuit was filled by the Hangen Berman law firm of California, pointing the finger towards HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group, Macmillian, Penguin and Simon & Schuster.
The firm seems to think that all this respectable editing houses plotted with Apple in order to increase ebook prices, all in the vicious attempt “to boost profits and force ebook rival Amazon to abandon its pro-consumer discount pricing”. The lawsuit has filled on behalf of Patsy Diamond of Los Angeles.
Apple dominance over the smartphone and tablet market enabled the company to dive right in the ebook business, thus driving prices up, including over at the Amazon central quarters. “Apple was the catalyst to all of this”, said Steve Berman, who’s a managing director for Hagens Berman. “We intend to prove that Apple needed a way to neutralize Amazon’s Kindle before its popularity could challenge the upcoming introduction of the iPad, a device Apple intended to compete as an e-reader.”
The problem is that before 2010, ebooks sold on Amazon were usually priced around $9.99 and lower. But ever since Apple stepped in the game, many top ebooks now have received a price tag of $12.99, when they are being sold for less than $10 as paperback.
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