14 DAY TRIAL // In the light of America’s Department of Justice suing Apple Inc. and others over antitrust violations regarding e-book pricing, Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), has issued a public statement expressing his dismay towards the Obama Administration’s decision.
The preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $195 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry, the Consumer Electronics Association is convinced that the US Government’s decision to sue Apple and book publishers for alleged antitrust violations over the price of e-books “marks another sad milestone in our government’s war on American companies.”
Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the association is convinced that the Obama administration is making a huge mistake, noting that “Apple is an American crown jewel that other nations covet, yet our own government leads an attack on its entry into electronic books.”
“More, the legal theory of attacking a new market entrant for anti-competitive pricing is surprising,” Shapiro continues. “Apple’s iPad hardware and iBooks software have an estimated 10 to 15 percent of the market share in e-books. Our ambiguous antitrust laws are now being used to take on a new market entrant of just over two years as if they have the market power to set prices.”
Shapiro says that the action costing AT&T a $4 billion break-up fee in its attempted merger with T-Mobile was just another mistake that reflects how America’s political leadership “has ignored the reality that our nation, its businesses and our economy face serious economic challenges.”
“Our government should be defending our leading companies from foreign attack, rather than attacking these companies so foreign governments will follow. Our government’s actions are catnip to the European Union and other governments seeking to extract money from successful American companies,” Shapiro says.
The CEA boss concludes, stating that “[America] is heading toward an economic cliff, and the administration is not only putting its full weight on the accelerator, it is removing the airbags of innovation and growth, which are our best chance at safely avoiding economic catastrophe.”