The Wall Street Journal confirmed yesterday that the U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation into the eBook industry. European authorities are also probing eBook pricing–putting the future of agency model pricing in question.
Acting antitrust chief Sharis Pozen explained in a Congressional hearing: “We are also investigating the electronic book industry, along with the European Commission and the states attorneys general.”
In August, the legal fight over set eBook prices hit the civil courts when consumer rights firm Hagens Berman filed a class action suit against Apple and five of the “big six” publishers–alleging that the agency model for eBook pricing is “in violation of a variety of federal and state antitrust laws, the Sherman Act, the Cartwright Act and the Unfair Competition Act.”