Why Europe’s Trustbusters Targeted Apple’s E-Book ‘Cartel’

Philip Elmer-DeWitt:

The language of the European Commission’s press release Tuesday announcing the start of a formal antitrust investigation of Apple and five major book publishers doesn’t address the obvious question: If Amazon is the 500-lbs. gorilla in the e-book trade, why has Apple’s much smaller iBookstore been targeted?

Bottom-line: the EU thinks the “agency model” constitutes illegal price-fixing.

★ Tuesday, 6 December 2011