In the publisher/Apple antitrust suit, one criticism that has emerged from the publisher partisan camp is that the DoJ is picking on them for trying to defend themselves against Amazon’s growing monopoly, while turning a blind eye to what Amazon is doing. However, the Wall Street Journal is running a piece in which it talks to antitrust scholars to try to dispel some misconceptions. U.S. antitrust law, the article explains, isn’t about protecting little companies from big ones, or even necessarily preventing monopolies as long as the monopolies are reached through legal means. It’s about preventing companies from...

Tech In Asia reports that, after months of delays, Japanese news sources have reported Amazon is soon to release the Kindle in Japan. This marks the fourth time such reports have surfaced in the last few months. This time, the anticipated date is by the end of the year. A previous prediction had set the device’s debut right about now. It seems that negotiations with Japanese publishers have been going slowly, though several major and about 40 minor Japanese publishers are reported to have signed on so far. Perhaps they’ve learned from watching Amazon’s history with publishers in the...

Here are a couple more interesting points of view on the DoJ’s anti-trust lawsuit against some publishers and Apple. On ReadWriteWeb, Joe Brockmeier points out that for all the noise around the suit, it really isn’t going to change the major problems with the e-book industry right now. He points out three such problems: the rampant proliferation of DRM and platform lock-in, the perpetual copyright implemented by Congress and backed by the Supreme Court, and Amazon’s problematic relationships with publishers (including those who aren’t the Big Six). If you're taking sides in the DoJ vs....

On PaidContent, Laura Hazard Owen has written a handy little guide to the implications of the DoJ-imposed settlement terms for readers. She discusses the effects that readers can expect to see as the settlement takes effect, sometime after the comment period ends in June. Readers will see the most effects on books published by Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and HarperCollins, the three publishers who meekly chose to settle with the DoJ, though those effects won’t start until June, when the 60-day comment period on the settlement is up. When it takes effect, publishers will have one week...

As we see more and more articles about the DoJ vs. publishers thing, with more and more of them saying the same thing, they start to become worth mentioning more for how they differ from others. For example, CBS News has a summary that explains what’s going on, but also links to Joe Konrath and Barry Eisler’s defenestration of Authors Guild president Scott Turow’s statement condemning the suit and settlement, which I hadn’t seen before and makes for some fun reading: Barry: Look, you can build a business by forcing your choices on consumers (commonly known...

Ever since the Department of Justice first made noises about suing over agency pricing, interest in Amazon’s, the publishers’, and Apple’s pricing practices has revived, with everyone and his brother expressing an opinion. Just over the last few days, I’ve starred a couple of dozen commentary posts on my Google Reader trawls, which is a bit much to cover here, at least all at once. But I’ll hit a few high points. First of all, John Scalzi is a little grumpy about “consumers who apparently think the current drama surrounding e-books is like a football game.” He reminds readers...

On PaidContent, Laura Hazard Owen has followed up with the Salon reporter who broke the story yesterday that the Big Six publishers may be refusing to sign Amazon’s newest contract. Owen contacted the Salon reporter, Alexander Zaitchik, for further details, and was told one source was “within the publishing journalism industry” and another was a contact at a major New York publishing house. Owen writes: People familiar with the situation confirmed to me that at least two big-six houses have refused to sign new annual contracts — but I have not yet been able to...

The anonymous sources have been awfully talkative about the Justice Department vs. publishers affair, haven’t they? The latest word, by way of Reuters, is that the Department of Justice might settle with some publishers and file suit against Apple as early as…tomorrow (Wednesday). The Justice Department, publishers, and Apple either could not be reached or declined comment. So who exactly are these anonymous blabbermouths, anyway? PaidContent speculates that they might be someone in the Justice Department, whose departing antitrust chief made some very gung-ho comments about certain unnamed businesses to the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks back....

Salon Magazine has an extremely lengthy story looking at Amazon, and bringing up a couple of points I hadn’t heard about before. In main, the article looks at Amazon’s habit of making quiet but substantial grants to various small independent publishing organizations, totaling about $1 million per year. Is it done to support indie publishing, or silence Amazon’s most strident critics? The Salon piece is more even-handed than the last article I covered on this theme. But the really interesting part is actually buried in the second section of the article, which mentions something I hadn’t heard elsewhere: Salon claims that...

As long-time readers know, we carry plenty of stories about how DRM is harmful to consumers, preventing them from fully using the products they paid for. (And we have plenty of commenters ready to go even farther about how terrible DRM is!) But one thing you hear about less often is how DRM can be harmful to e-book stores as well. Ruth Curry, chief operating officer of independent e-bookseller Emily Books, has written a piece on PaidContent discussing the effect that DRM has had on the store she runs with her friend Emily Gould. Major publishers were not willing...

Does proving a conspiracy require hard evidence? PaidContent reports that plaintiffs who have filed suit against Apple and the major publishers who implemented agency pricing say in their latest filing that indirect evidence of price jumps and other “plus factors” are all that is necessary, according to a 1939 Supreme Court precedent pertaining to movie studios who fixed film prices. The filing points out a number of events such as several separate deals finalized over just a few days, a trade association meeting when executives from Hachette and Macmillan were seen together in a bar, and the way that...

Reuters has a report from a couple of anonymous tipsters close to the Justice Department talks with Apple and the major publishers regarding the antitrust investigation into agency pricing. According to Reuters’s sources, the negotiations may be within weeks of reaching a settlement. The settlement is expected to eliminate Apple’s “most favored nation” status, which currently allows Apple to lower its prices for an e-book to match the lowest price the book is available elsewhere. (Though the article doesn’t say whether Amazon and Barnes & Noble, which have a similar contract clause, would have to give it up as...