Sooner or later, it had to happen. When a company gets to size of Apple, it will attract the attention of regulators, particularly when it's in the process of developing new and relatively unexplored markets.
The Wall Street Journal reports that it's investigating the pricing of electronic books to see whether there was improper collusion by Apple Inc. and publishers to prevent discounting.
This follows reports that the European Commission is investigating whether e-book publishers owned by Lagardere, Pearson, News Corp and two other firms fixed prices with Apple and by doing so, blocked rivals and hurt consumers by making them pay more for books bought on an iPad.
So which way will it go? As commentator's say here, that's anyone's guess. "The Justice Department, along with the FTC, conduct these sort of investigations all the time. They typically take place behind the scenes but the U.S. may have announced today in response to the European news. If the government concludes the Apple e-book scheme is anti-competitive, it can file a complaint which would typically lead to a settlement. But the government may also conclude nothing is amiss. As for Europe, all bets are off given the continent's tougher regulatory standards and zeal for punishing US companies."
At worst for Apple, it might be forced to pay its customers some sort of compensation. No doubt it's all money for lawyers.
no comment untill now