What a joke.
Apple tries to save the e-book industry from an abusive monopolist (Amazon) and instead of being thanked for improving the state of competition, the government slaps it down to protect the monopolist.
But think about it from another angle.
You write a book. You get an 'advance' from the publisher. That's not 'free money', it's an 'advance', a loan for the possible selling of your book.
The book starts selling. The publisher makes their money back, and then you start getting payments. Out of the cost of the book, you get a percentage, after 'costs'. I've heard it's possible that a writer gets 2 to 8% of the books sale value. After 'costs', like marketing, legal fees, management fees, fee fees, 'daddy needs a new Gulf Stream jet with the Burl wood interior' fees...
Along comes Apple.
The 'buyer' pays the 'published book price' for essentially a block of binary numbers in a computer somewhere. The costs are fixed, whether they sell 1 or 1,000,000. Amazon comes up with the idea that charging the 'published price' for that block of binary digits is ridiculous. The 'publisher' isn't actually 'publishing' the book, there are no trucks running across the land lugging those cases of books around, no planes ferrying them anywhere. Amazon decides to give 'the little guy a break' and charges less than the 'published price' for that collection of bits.
Apple sees the writer as being 'beaten by the system', and steps in to 'save the day' and 'get the writer more money', which also dovetails into their plan to gouge that writer for 30% OFF THE TOP. Apple doesn't look so altruistic now, do they...
The way I see this is Apple is selling a bunch of bits, for a premium, to all of us.
It would be like having to pay $4,062.80 (without rental car or hotel charges) to see a movie about being at Disney World... Or paying the power company for generating your OWN power through solar or wind power... Or paying McDonald's for the hamburger you grilled on your patio...
Absurd analogies, sure, but how much sense does it make to pay full price for a bunch of bits with no appreciable overhead short of some server space and a blip on the internet.
And the same thing can be said for music too. AND it was being reported that many publishers were happy with Amazon's marketing and sales...
Paying full boat retail for a 'book' that isn't even a book is ridiculous...
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Companies act in their own best interests. Expecting anything else is a little delusional. One of the things that came out during the trial was that Apple considered offering Amazon a you stay out of music and we stay out of books deal. That wouldn't have been in anyones best interests except Apple and Amazon.
There is a movie called 'The Corporation' that people really need to see.
If corporations were people, damn near every one of them would be JAILED or COMMITTED to a mental institution.
They are PSYCHOTIC! They kill people for profit... They poison people as part of 'business decisions' (nothing personal)... They knowingly market defective and substandard products because it's cheaper than fixing them... They cheat on their taxes like it's their main occupation. They deliberately evade and break environmental and monetary regulations with impunity... They own politicians and judges...
Anyone that blindly trusts the motives of a corporation should think about whether they would or could trust Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacey, Ted Kazinsky, Ted Cruz...
Seriously. Apple is in it for the money. It's damn near pure gravy baby...