GoodeReader reports on a story from overseas that says the European Commission is dissolving the Agency Model of pricing instituted some years ago by Apple, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan and Hachette Livre because it was a “concerted practice” to raise eBook prices and stop lower prices from being available across Europe.
This is similar to the US Department of Justice’s suit against Apple and co-conspirators, except in the European case, Apple seems to be complying with the dismantling initiative, something they’re fighting stateside.
With the Agency Model going into remission this forces publishers to offer their titles to booksellers with a starting price attached. The booksellers are then free to discount them as they wish or as the market demands.
