If they want to encourage competition, let the book stores charge whatever they want.
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If they want to encourage competition, let the book stores charge whatever they want.
But even meeting together does not mean they are at fault. A group of beer makers could get together to discuss the best way to encourage sales, that would not be illegal.
Tim Coates, former managing director of WH Smith and Waterstones, and founder of e-books sales and lending site Bilbary, told the Today programme's Simon Jack that he thought the US government had "a very strong case" against Apple.
He disagreed that this was good for competition in the books markets and said that the "economics of the e-book industry is quite different to the print industry" because costs are the same up until first copy but after that e-books incur none of costs of printing and distribution.
The DOJ’s accusation of collusion against Apple is simply not true. The launch of the iBookstore in 2010 fostered innovation and competition, breaking Amazon’s monopolistic grip on the publishing industry. Since then customers have benefited from eBooks that are more interactive and engaging. Just as we’ve allowed developers to set prices on the App Store, publishers set prices on the iBookstore.
It's a great defence.
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Now that is good customer service.
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