Apple and several book publishers are currently facing a lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice for conspiring to artificially set e-book pricing. The complaint that was filed makes for some interesting reading but a very specific section of it, which isn’t elaborated on in the complaint, is even more so.
It appears that, according to the US Department of Justice (DoJ), Apple at one time considered teaming up with Amazon, splitting the e-book and audio/video markets between the two companies. The paragraph reads:
In addition to considering competitive entry at that time, though, Apple also contemplated illegally dividing the digital content world with Amazon, allowing each to “own the category” of its choice — audio/video to Apple and e-books to Amazon.
Why this was course of action was considered and why it was never executed isn’t explained but, if true, this implies that there may be more to the DoJ’s case than was first thought. Whether the accusation has any substance is something we might hear about later.
Source: AllThingsD