EC goes after e-book cartels

ANTI-TRUST REGULATORS from the European Commisson (EC) spent a good deal of Monday knocking on the doors of ebook publishers that they suspect are guilty of less than savoury business practices.

In a statement the EC said that it had sent officials to carry out "unannounced inspections" at a number of premises in Europe, but did not reveal which ones.

It added that it suspected them of indulging in bad practices concerning the publishing of books and we can surmise that it is likely to throw a large, paper version of the relevant regulations in their direction if they are found to be doing so.

"The Commission has reason to believe that the companies concerned may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and other restrictive business practices (Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union)," it said. "The Commission officials were accompanied by their counterparts from the relevant national competition authorities."

Unannounced inspections, which are not likely to be accompanied with a swift door kick, are a standard and preliminary part of anti-trust investigations and the EC is, sadly, respecting the rights of the firms in question.

Big players in the ebooks market include Apple, Google and Amazon. µ