By Frances Robinson
BRUSSELS--The European Union's antitrust body invited comments
on the commitments suggested by Apple Inc. (AAPL) and four
publishing houses, following a transatlantic investigation into the
way e-books are priced and sold, having given details of the offer
in its official journal Wednesday.
"Answers and comments should preferably be reasoned and should
set out the relevant facts," the journal stated. "If you identify a
problem with any part of the proposed commitments, the commission
would also invite you to suggest a possible solution."
The commission started investigating in December 2011 how Apple
and CBS Corp.'s (CBS) Simon & Schuster, News Corp.'s (NWS)
HarperCollins, Lagardere SCA's (MMB.FR) Hachette, Pearson PLC's
(PSO) Penguin Group and Macmillan, a unit of Verlagsgruppe Georg
von Holtzbrinck GmbH, price e-books under the so-called agency
model. The companies involved offered the changes in April
2012.
Under the commitments, each of the four publishers and Apple
will terminate the agency agreements for the sale of e-books in
Europe concluded between each of the four and Apple. There are also
rules about discounting of books.
Earlier this month, a U.S. federal judge approved a settlement
with three of the nation's largest book publishers--Simon &
Schuster, Harper Collins and Hachette--over alleged collusion in
the pricing of e-books. The companies have reached a settlement
with the U.S. Department of Justice.
The DOJ and the European Commission have been investigating the
case on both sides of the Atlantic.
News Corp. also owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of this
newswire and The Wall Street Journal.
Write to Frances Robinson at frances.robinson@dowjones.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires