Tech

Justice Department files antitrust lawsuit against Apple, book publishers

Josh Peterson Contributor
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The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Apple and several major book publishers Wednesday, alleging that the companies colluded to fix the price of ebooks.

Bloomberg reports the Justice Department is expected to announced an “unspecified” antitrust settlement Wednesday with Hachette SA, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster.

Apple and Macmillan have reportedly refused to take part in settlement talks. Penguin Books is also being sued.

Random House, another major publisher, was not included in the litigation.

The Justice Department, led by Attorney General Eric Holder, has been particularly active on antitrust enforcement. Last year, the DOJ sued to block the merger between AT&T and T-Mobile USA, a subsidiary of the German-owned telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom.

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