Digital Book World
Authors United has made a formal request to the Department of Justice (DoJ) that it investigate Amazon for monopolistic practices and anti-competitive behavior.The group has been pushing this case for some time, along with a number of other groups representing authors and publishers, arguing that Amazon controls a giant share of the ebook market and that it has been using this power for evil instead of good.
In a letter that Authors United sent to the DoJ recently supporting its request, the group laid out the core of its argument and the key point that the case will hinge on: the group says that even if Amazon’s behavior leads to lower prices for books, this shouldn’t be the Department’s only concern. Instead, the regulator should look at how Amazon’s anti-competitive tactics affect society as a whole.
According to Fortune, though, the antitrust claim is doomed, as “judged by almost any objective measurement, Amazon’s monopoly has been far more of a benefit for both writers and readers than it has been a hindrance, and it certainly has been for book buyers. And that’s what the Justice Department is going to focus on.”
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