Arguing that Apple offers an alternative to Amazon’s growing monopoly in the eBook business, New York Senator Charles E. Schumer wrote an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal urging the Department of Justice to drop its eBook lawsuit against Apple.
In the piece, Schumer pointed out that “the average price for e-books fell to $7 from $9, according to a filing in the case.” The Justice Department has ignored this overall trend and instead focused on the fact that the prices for some new releases have gone up.”
Pointing to the dangers of a single retailer controlling 90 percent of the market, Schumer warns of the impact this will have on culture. He continued: “If publishers, authors and consumers are at the mercy of a single retailer that controls 90% of the market and can set rock-bottom prices, we will all suffer. Choice is critical in any market, but that is particularly true in cultural markets like books. The prospect that a single firm would control access to books should give any reader pause.”