SAN FRANCISCO (US) – A class-action lawsuit was filed against Amazon.com Inc on Thursday, accusing the eCommerce behemoth of inflating the prices of eBooks with some publishers.
According to the lawsuit, Amazon and the five largest publishers in the US – collectively known as the Big Five – agreed to price restraints that cause consumers to pay more for eBooks bought from them via a retail platform other than Amazon.com.
This comes a day after Connecticut said it was probing Amazon for potential anti-competitive behaviour in its digital book business.
As many as 90% of eBooks are sold through Amazon, which is the largest digital bookseller in the US.
The law firm which brought the case, Hagens Berman, had filed a similar lawsuit in 2011 against Apple Inc and the ‘Big Five’ over prices of eBooks.