Macmillan, one of the five publishing firms accused of being in cahoots with Apple in an e-book price-fixing conspiracy, has now reached a settlement with US authorities.
In a official statement, The justice department said that now that the five publishing houses lave settled, Macmillan being the last, the case against Apple will proceed with a trial set to commence in June.
Macmillan followed Penguin Group, Hachette Book Group Inc, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster, who earlier reached a settlement in the charges of an illegal conspiracy to raise e-book prices.
“As a result of today’s settlement, Macmillan has agreed to immediately allow retailers to lower the prices consumers pay for Macmillan’s e-books,” quoted Jamillia Ferris from the Antitrust Division at Justice. “Just as consumers are already paying lower prices for the e-book versions of many of Hachette’s, HarperCollins’ and Simon & Schuster’s new releases and best sellers, we expect the prices of many of Macmillan’s e-books will also decline,” she added.
