US Justice Department Investigates iTunes =========================== After Apple was found guilty of conspiring in an e-book price fixing cartel, the Justice Department of the United States decided to scrutinize Apple’s wider content biz. The authority isconcerned that the company may have engaged in similarly anticompetitivebehavior in sellingdigital works via iTunes, like movies, music and TV shows. According to Bill Baer, who works as an assistant attorney in charge of the antitrust division in Department of Justice, a proposedorder will stop the company’s unauthorized conduct. As a result,both the tech giant and its senior executives will be prevented from conspiring to thwart competition in the future. Ironically, it was Apple’s drive to selling material on the Internet which was, as the time, regarded as a seismic shift while content companies were fighting illegal distribution through such file-sharing networks as LimeWire. However, the Department of Justice is worried that Apple may have, or may currently be conspiring with publishers in a similar way to its e-books division. The company may also have to cope with a proposed monitor, which would keep a stern eye over Apple in the e-book market and preventing the company fromentering e-book contracts for another 5 years, thus removing Apple’s chief ability to keep prices competitive. Back in July, US district Judge has finally ruled that the evidence pointed to Apple leading an e-book price fixing conspiracy. Admin....#vaibhav
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 08:32:27 +0000