The European Commission has formally launched an antitrust investigation against Apple and book publishers Hachette Libre, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, Penguin and Holtzbrinck, the German owner of Macmillan. The commission is looking into the possibility that Apple conspired with these publishers to restrict competition in the e-book market in the European Union.
This isn't the first time Apple and the publishers have been targeted for alleged price fixing. The agency model, what the move is known as, is the subject of
