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Of course there is more to the argument than that. You talk about the entire industry when in reality, the 5 publishers were around 40% of the market.

-90% of the market (Amazon) set prices. That's okay.
-40% of the market (5 publishers) come together to fight Amazon. That's bad.
-30% of the market (Penguin Random House) decides to merge (aka legally collude). That's okay.

I don't think there is any straightforward right and wrong here.

The law says differently. Like it or hate it. At current - Amazon hasn't done anything illegal. Neither has Penguin/Random House. Apple and the publishers - not so much.

And in markets - 40% can be considered significant. Obviously.
 
The law says differently. Like it or hate it. At current - Amazon hasn't done anything illegal. Neither has Penguin/Random House. Apple and the publishers - not so much.

Obviously, I disagree. If the law were that straightforward, the world would be a better place.
 
Obviously, I disagree. If the law were that straightforward, the world would be a better place.

Well you wrote legally collude. Can you legally murder someone? I'm pretty sure the idea of colluding itself makes it illegal ;)
 
I think that you have the timing wrong, because the judge said nothing before she saw the evidence.

Perhaps you have to re read the news

He said before the trial to which I agree. More than evidence comes into play during the trial. The testimony of the witnesses for instance. Statements like that by the judge make for a better appeal.

I'm confused by your comment. Can you clarify. Regardless of which model is being used - the author gets the same amount.

Amazon bought books for X and sold them for less. The publishers didn't lose money - and in many cases - were making more money with Amazon then with the Agency model.

But the increase in book prices (in the short term) might have actually hurt overall sales with people opting not to purchase eBooks at all because of the higher prices. Conjecture.

If Amazon was paying LESS to the publisher - you might have a point. Which is why I am asking you to clarify how one model over another helps the author.

But it can still hurt authors in the long run. Amazon does not sell all books cheaper. Mostly the best sellers. It might make people choose books more based on price than other titles not sold at a discount. Not good competition for unknown authors new to the market.
 
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That's the argument. It just ignores the fact that the market overall is more competitive now than before Apple entered the market. And, in practice, this is only going to really benefit Amazon.
It's not that I like Amazon getting the most out of the deal, but Amazon was definately together with the consumers the most damaged party by Apple's unfair practices, it's obvious that is also going to gain the most if the situation is restored.

Striving for a competitive market cannot come at the cost of awarding Apple (or any competitor) with advantages gained through illegal practices.
 
Only in your eyes... :rolleyes:

You implied that Apple got off harshly and the publishers got off easier. Right? It's because the publishers admitted guilty and settled out of court.

They even didn't admitted guilty in the settlement agreement. Well, like Apple in the EU, they didn't admitted wrongdoing
 
I don't think there is any straightforward right and wrong here.

There's not one single answer that states everyone was right, or everyone was wrong, no. There are a lot of blacks, whites, and greys contained within the whole picture

I would say the situation involving Apple and the publishers together was ultimately illegal though, as they worked together specifically to hobble Amazon and give Apple an advantage. From the evidence, what they did was the very definition of collusion.

It's hard to deny Amazon was anything but the one single market power at the time, one who may or may not have been involved in illegal practices to gain and maintain their position. But this fact doesn't give everyone else carte blanche to do whatever they deem necessary to take down a larger threat. Illegal is illegal, and no matter who was on top after all was said and done, some part of the market would suffer by the end of it.
 
It's not that I like Amazon getting the most out of the deal, but Amazon was definately together with the consumers the most damaged party by Apple's unfair practices, it's obvious that is also going to gain the most if the situation is restored.

Striving for a competitive market cannot come at the cost of awarding Apple (or any competitor) with advantages gained through illegal practices.

By "damaged", do you mean "forced to make more money." :D

Do you have any evidence that they were "damaged" at all? Are we to assume that they would have maintained a 90% market share? If so, why not simply bar Apple from the eBook market for 5 years?
 
By "damaged", do you mean "forced to make more money." :D

Do you have any evidence that they were "damaged" at all? Are we to assume that they would have maintained a 90% market share? If so, why not simply bar Apple from the eBook market for 5 years?

well if people stopped or paused in buying ebooks because prices went up - they weren't necc making more money...

eta: I think his punctuation was lacking. I think he's saying the consumer was the damaged party.
 
There's not one single answer that states everyone was right, or everyone was wrong, no. There are a lot of blacks, whites, and greys contained within the whole picture

I would say the situation involving Apple and the publishers together was ultimately illegal though, as they worked together specifically to hobble Amazon and give Apple an advantage. From the evidence, what they did was the very definition of collusion.

It's hard to deny Amazon was anything but the one single market power at the time, one who may or may not have been involved in illegal practices to gain and maintain their position. But this fact doesn't give everyone else carte blanche to do whatever they deem necessary to take down a larger threat. Illegal is illegal, and no matter who was on top after all was said and done, some part of the market would suffer by the end of it.

Except that there is a legal argument that restraint of trade to counteract market inefficiencies can be legal.

http://www.abajournal.com/news/arti...wyer_files_cartoon_amicus_brief_with_proper_/
 
Okay, we need EBookReader in here to counter that, cuz I don't know how. :p

Cartoons make the best arguments. :D

(EBookReader spent most of his posts arguing that the effects of agency pricing and the MFN clause were proof of Apple's guilt. Something that the judge specifically refuted in her ruling.)
 
Cartoons make the best arguments. :D

(EBookReader spent most of his posts arguing that the effects of agency pricing and the MFN clause were proof of Apple's guilt. Something that the judge specifically refuted in her ruling.)

Yeah, purdy pictures always sway me.

Though I did think of one semi counter argument. I guess it depends on the necessity of them going as far as they did. The comic states that certain extreme measures such as horizontal price fixing are allowed if necessary to compete with an entrenched monopsony (which Amazon arguably was), and better for the market overall.

So my questions are: were the results truly better overall, was Amazon damaging the market for ebooks across the board (which I could argue they weren't, because they were only selling recent bestsellers below margin), and was it the only means Apple and the publishers had to offset Amazon's buying power?
 
Do you have any evidence that they were "damaged" at all? Are we to assume that they would have maintained a 90% market share? If so, why not simply bar Apple from the eBook market for 5 years?
There is obviously no exact formula for these things. The DoJ is making a proposal but at some point someone will have to evaluate all of this and decide. Nobody could evaluate exactly how much Samsung's patent infringements "damaged" Apple either, someone had to make an estimate which is still debated today...

Note that this is simply my take of what is the DoJ's thinking. To me the DoJ's goals makes sense, they want to remedy the damages Apple did to the consumers and the competitors. Whether they are proposing the best way to accomplish all of this is another issue.
 
Yeah, purdy pictures always sway me.

Though I did think of one semi counter argument. I guess it depends on the necessity of them going as far as they did. The comic states that certain extreme measures such as horizontal price fixing are allowed if necessary to compete with an entrenched monopsony (which Amazon arguably was), and better for the market overall.

So my questions are: were the results truly better overall, was Amazon damaging the market for ebooks across the board (which I could argue they weren't, because they were only selling recent bestsellers below margin), and was it the only means Apple and the publishers had to offset Amazon's buying power?

Yep. Obviously the court was not swayed by the cartoon. I was just pointing out that reasonable, informed people can disagree over the law. Both sides can even be right. Just got to convince the judge that you're more right. :)

There is obviously no exact formula for these things. The DoJ is making a proposal but at some point someone will have to evaluate all of this and decide.

You say, "making a proposal". I say, "taking an extreme position as a negotiating tactic." :D
 
Denise Cote thinks she IS the DOJ. Extremely biased, and too unstable to sit on a Federal Bench, IMO.

"Trust the Government. It worked for the Indians". :apple:
She isn't.
She is part of the Judicial branch of the government.
The DOJ is part of the Executive branch. ;)

I'm pleased to know you're qualified to judge the competency of a person who has been on the federal bench close to 20 years. :rolleyes:
 
If it ever comes to the point where a company like Apple is standing before a judge defending themselves in an antitrust hearing, the facts have already been studied meticulously, and have been found to be quite damning. This is why the judge had already "made up her mind" before they went to court. She built the case herself. Seen the evidence. Read the reports. Heard all the various testimonies from the various parties involved

So now we have trials just to read the verdict and give out punishment?

I'm sure the judge has not heard all the evidence prior to the trial. Not sure where you got the "Heard all the testimonies from the parties involved" That normally happens during the trial.
 
Thank you, Oletros (and now SamCraig). You beat me to this. The others settled. Apple thought they were untouchable, and wanted to go to court. They gambled. They lost. They get hit harder. No difference than any other criminal trial. For example - If you killed someone, the DA could go after you for Murder One if you go to trial, but if you plea bargain, you can get a lessor sentence of Manslaughter. If you choose not to take the less harsh plea bargain, you take your chances in court, and if you lose, you get the harsher sentence. Why would you expect anything different? You don't go to trial, lose, and then get to say, "Oh, OK! I lost! I guess I'll take the plea deal everyone else did causes it's less penalty than what I just got!"

(and for the record to avoid the flame attacks, I'm not saying what apple did is equivalent to murder. Was just using this as an example of how the real legal system works for those that are confused as to why Apple got hit harder)

I don't know, to some folks on here, it is a matter of life and death; of course we all know it is much more important than that! :rolleyes:
 
They do. It's ultimately nothing more than a subset library inside the ever profitable iTunes. Even if they didn't sell a single ebook, hosting them and providing payment options wouldn't cost Apple roughly as much as hosting an unpopular album. The only large(ish) monetary investment on their part would be hiring the staff to make an e-reader program capable of viewing the files.

The problem is, Apple loves their profit margins, and they wouldn't make as much as they think they deserve by competing with Amazon on a price for price basis.

Apple makes enough money from iTunes to make it self sustaining and break even. The whole point of iTunes is to make content available for all its products, which makes the most money by selling their hardware.

The Mac App store is a little different as they are making more profit as they sell their own software.
 
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This is great news for consumers! Really looking forward to this decision being implemented.
 
So I take it that the Kindle will also be forced to allow me to purchase iBooks?
Forced... no.
But I'm sure as soon as Apple starts making Android apps, you will be able to load them on a Kindle.
But of course hell will have frozen over by then.

Remember, Amazon doesn't lock down their tablets. You can sideload all you want.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't selling content through an outside channel within your app a violation of the app guidelines? If the courts want to play games, reject the app. Quit trying to appease the government, because they will never be satisfied.
 
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