Publishers raided in e-book price fixing probe
European investigators have raided several unnamed publishers across Europe amidst allegations of price fixing ebooks.
This follows a similar investigation by the Office of fair Trading into the price of ebooks, which can be more than twice as much as their printed progenitors.
Questions have arisen around the legality of the so called “agency” pricing model, a quirk of the system qhich allows publishers to set their own prices on Apple’s iBook store, where previously retailers would have competed on price.
One title identified, The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry, will set back eBook owners £12.99, a third more than the hardback version which sells for £10 and nearly double the paperback’s £6.74 cover price.