The European Commission will investigate if Apple and several publishers have made illegal cartel agreements. In particular, the Commission will investigate if some publishers have made illegal agreements with Apple, regarding the sales of e-books through the Apple iBook Store.  The publishers who are involved in the research are: Hachette Livre, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Penguin and Macmillian. This research is set in response to the invasions at publishers, previously this year.

Mainly, the Commission will investigate the agreements and conditions which publishers engaged with Apple, regarding the sales of e-books through Apple’s iBook Store. At the introduction of the iBookstore, Apple agreed with large publishers that they could determine the price of e-books itself, a so-called ‘agency-model’. The Commission will investigate the character and conditions of these agency-agreements. 

The Commission suspects that these agreements could infringe  EU-rules. 

Reference: : ereader.nl, webwereld.nl 

By: Deniece Teterissa