The U.S. Department of Justice and 15 states — including Arizona — are suing Apple and major book publishers, claiming a conspiracy to inflate the price consumers pay for electronic books.
According to the government, the price-fixing scheme cost consumers more than $100 million over the last two years by adding between $2 and $5 to the title of each book, all in an effort to eliminate competition among e-book sellers and get Amazon to raise the $9.99 price point of its most popular digital titles (which they did).
One federal antitrust official says the conspiracy stretched all the way to deceased Apple genius Steve Jobs. The government is pursuing its case against Apple and two publishers, but the feds and two states have reached settlements with others.
Because it’s perfectly OK with these attorneys general that the foreign people who make today’s shiniest gadgets have been working in such horrifying conditions that they try to throw themselves off buildings. As long as everything is done by the book here at home.
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