Apple’s Court Loss Could End The Book As We Know It

The Justice Department is hailing a judge’s finding yesterday that Apple and publishers conspired to fix e-book prices as a victory for consumers, who are paying less since the alleged cabal was thwarted. But readers shouldn’t rest easy. More than anything, Apple’s defeat in court reinforces the key fact of bookselling in the 21st century: Amazon has more power than anyone else to dictate what Americans pay for books.

In a recent piece, The New York Times highlighted authors whose print books “>were getting more expensive on Amazon to insinuate that the company was steadily pushing prices up.

“With Borders dead, Barnes & Noble struggling and independent booksellers greatly diminished, for many consumers there is simply no other way to get many books than through Amazon,” reporter David Streitfeld wrote. “And for some books, Amazon is, in effect, beginning to raise prices.”