[ti:US Brings Case Against Apple and Five Book Publishers Over Electronic Books] [ar:Mario Ritter] [al:Economics Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English Economics Report. [00:05.86]The United States says [00:07.95]technology company Apple and book publishers [00:11.66]illegally fixed prices of electronic books, or e-books. [00:17.72]The Department of Justice took legal action [00:21.08]on Wednesday in federal court in New York City. [00:25.38]The same day, Attorney General Eric Holder [00:28.90]spoke in Washington about the case [00:31.64]against Apple and the book publishers. [00:34.11]The publishers are Hachette, HarperCollins, [00:38.73]MacMillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster. [00:43.33]Mr. Holder said e-books are changing [00:46.31]the way Americans share information. [00:49.15]He said the Department of Justice wants to make sure [00:52.76]Americans can buy e-books at a fair price. [00:57.10]He said the case was part of that effort. [01:00.35]ERIC HOLDER: "As part of this commitment, [01:02.41]the Department has reached a settlement [01:04.44]with three of the nation's largest book publishers [01:06.97]¨C and will continue to litigate against Apple, [01:09.47]and two additional leading publishers [01:11.58]¨C for conspiring to increase the prices [01:14.04]that consumers pay for e-books." [01:16.44]The Justice Department says Apple [01:18.86]and the five publishers made an illegal deal [01:22.62]to set higher prices for electronic books. [01:26.51]It says, because of this, Americans paid [01:30.27]millions of dollars more than they should have. [01:33.65]The dispute centers on the influence of Amazon.com. [01:38.56]The Internet store had been selling e-books [01:42.32]for nine dollars and ninety-nine cents. [01:45.15]But the government says Apple made a deal [01:48.70]with the publishers two years ago [01:51.20]as it prepared to launch the iPad tablet computer. [01:56.06]The deal guaranteed Apple [01:59.43]thirty percent of the money earned on each e-book sold. [02:03.62]It also created a pricing model [02:06.65]that required stores to sell at a price [02:10.74]set by the publishers and Apple. [02:13.15]The price was several dollars higher [02:16.48]than the one offered by Amazon. [02:19.28]Acting Assistant Attorney General Sharis Pozen [02:23.00]noted that businesses can set their own prices. [02:27.03]But she also said: [02:29.39]SHARIS POZEN: "when companies get together [02:31.82]and conspire to enter into agreements [02:34.42]that eliminate price competition, [02:37.11]it crosses the line. [02:39.47]This kind of agreement is illegal and anticompetitive. [02:43.72]That's when the Antitrust Division will take action, [02:46.54]and that's what we've done today." [02:49.40]Sharis Pozen added that company officials [02:52.44]knew what they were doing at the time. [02:55.32]That included former Apple chief Steve Jobs. [03:00.31]Antitrust laws aim to halt business methods [03:04.00]that crush competition. [03:06.22]Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster [03:11.17]have agreed to a settlement. [03:13.23]It says they must repay millions of dollars [03:17.09]and stop giving Apple special treatment. [03:21.03]Sixteen states and Puerto Rico [03:23.85]are also bringing their own case. [03:26.12]Apple and British publishers McMillan [03:30.22]and Penguin have decided to go to court. [03:33.60]And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. [03:39.09]For transcripts, MP3s and now PDFs of our programs [03:45.70]for e-readers, go to voaspecialenglish. [03:51.30]And follow us on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter [03:55.90]at VOA Learning English. [03:59.24]I'm Mario Ritter.