Cupertino vehemently disagrees with the DOJ’s antitrust accusations on ebook pricing

Apr 13, 2012 07:46 GMT  ·  By

After the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed antitrust charges against Apple and major book publishers over e-book pricing, Apple issued a statement claiming these accusations are utterly false.

Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told All Things D in a statement that “The DOJ’s accusation of collusion against Apple is simply not true. The launch of the iBookstore in 2010 fostered innovation and competition, breaking Amazon’s monopolistic grip on the publishing industry.

Since then, customers have benefited from eBooks that are more interactive and engaging. Just as we’ve allowed developers to set prices on the App Store, publishers set prices on the iBookstore.”

The DOJ alleges that Apple conspired with publishers to enter an "agency model" for e-book sales to abandon Amazon's "wholesale model," which allows publishers get to set their own prices for books. The wholesale model allowed booksellers to do that.