Why would publishers not like a low retail price?
On April 11, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit against Apple and several book publishers, claiming that the companies conspired to limit price competition in e-books, in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The Justice Department claims that the agreements between Apple and the book publishers to enter into an "agency" distribution model with a "most favored nation" clause had the direct impact of raising the price of e-books to consumers.
[This article republished with permission from the author and the Tuck School of Business.]