Shelf Awareness reports that The American Booksellers Association, Barnes & Noble, Authors United and the Authors Guild have filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the Supreme Court asking it to review the district court decision, upheld by the appeals court, against Apple, in the so-called agency model case. The court found that Apple violated antitrust law by coordinating with five major U.S. book publishers to influence the price of e-books. In the case, the publishers settled with the Justice Department; only Apple went to court.
The brief argues that "the government's focus on Apple's allegedly anti-competitive activities was misplaced, because Apple's conduct, in fact, enhanced competition by increasing e-book output, the number of e-book titles, and the number of e-book distributors, which led to technological improvements in the e-book market and enhanced freedom of expression and access to e-books." They noted that Apple's entry into the market "actually increased competition, as demonstrated by the fall of Amazon's market share from 90% in 2010 to around 60% two years later."
The brief argues that "the government's focus on Apple's allegedly anti-competitive activities was misplaced, because Apple's conduct, in fact, enhanced competition by increasing e-book output, the number of e-book titles, and the number of e-book distributors, which led to technological improvements in the e-book market and enhanced freedom of expression and access to e-books." They noted that Apple's entry into the market "actually increased competition, as demonstrated by the fall of Amazon's market share from 90% in 2010 to around 60% two years later."
