Apple and four major publishers have offered to let retailers such as Amazon sell e-books at a discount for two years to end an EU antitrust investigation, the European Commission said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The EU antitrust watchdog started an investigation into Apple’s e-book pricing deals with Simon & Schuster, News Corp unit HarperCollins, French group Lagardere SCA’s Hachette Livre, Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck, which owns Macmillan in Germany and Pearson Plc’s Penguin group in December last year.<\/p>\n
Apple and the publishers, with the exception of Penguin, subsequently offered to settle with the Commission.<\/p>\n
“For a period of two years, the four publishers will not restrict, limit or impede e-book retailers’ ability to set, alter or reduce retail prices for e-books and\/or to offer discounts or promotions,” the European Commission said in its Official Journal.<\/p>\n
Reuters had reported the proposal on August 31.<\/p>\n
The Commission said the publishers and Apple also offered to suspend most-favored nation contracts for five years. Third parties have a month to provide feedback on the proposals.<\/p>\n
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