000 03997cam a2200313 i 4500
001 458
003 MYCC
005 20250217123624.0
008 190305s2019 mau b 001 0 eng c
020 _a9780674972216
_q(alk. paper)
040 _aMH/DLC
_beng
_cMH
_erda
_dDLC
_dMYCC
082 0 0 _a343.7307/25
_223
090 0 0 _a343.7307/25
_bSAG 2019
100 1 _aSagers, Christopher L.,
_d1970-
_eauthor.
245 1 0 _aUnited States v. Apple :
_bcompetition in America /
_cChris Sagers.
264 1 _aCambridge, Massachusetts :
_bHarvard University Press,
_c2019.
300 _aviii, 325 pages ;
_c25 cm
336 _atext
_2rdacontent
337 _aunmediated
_2rdamedia
338 _avolume
_2rdacarrier
504 _aIncludes bibliographical references (pages 267-314) and index.
505 0 _aIntroduction: A case to learn from -- Part I. Policy as prologue: The great generalization -- In the first ships: competition as a concept and its special role in American history -- And yet, uncertainty: the long shadows of the American methodenstreit -- Uncertainty of another kind: coping with capitalism through association and self-help -- Tensions of the latter day and some unexpected skepticism -- Competition as a living policy, circa 2018 -- Part II. The ebooks case: The old business of books -- Bookselling and the birth of Amazon -- Publishers, booksellers, and the oldest problem in the world -- Price fixing in books -- Content and the digital transition in historical context -- The promise and threat of electronic books -- How electronic books came to be, and what it would mean for the Apple case -- Google Books -- The Kindle -- The ebooks conspiracy -- Part III. Competition and its many regrets: The long agony of antitrust -- So are books, after all, special? Is anything? -- The virtues of vertical and entry for its own sake -- Amazon -- The threat to writers and the threat to cultural values -- The creeping profusion of externalities -- Conclusion: Real ironies.
520 _aOne of the most followed antitrust cases of recent times--United States v. Apple--reveals a missed truth: what Americans most fear is competition itself. In 2012 the Department of Justice accused Apple and five book publishers of conspiring to fix e-book prices. The evidence overwhelmingly showed an unadorned price-fixing conspiracy that cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars. Yet before, during, and after the trial millions of Americans sided with the defendants. Pundits on the left and right condemned the government for its decision to sue, decrying Amazon's market share, railing against a new high-tech economy, and rallying to defend beloved authors and publishers. For many, Amazon was the one that should have been put on trial. But why? One fact went unrecognized and unreckoned with: in practice, Americans have long been ambivalent about competition. Chris Sagers, a renowned antitrust expert, meticulously pulls apart the misunderstandings and exaggerations that industries as diverse as mom-and-pop grocers and producers of cast-iron sewer pipes have cited to justify colluding to forestall competition. In each of these cases, antitrust law, a time-honored vehicle to promote competition, is put on the defensive. Herein lies the real insight of United States v. Apple. If we desire competition as a policy, we must make peace with its sometimes rough consequences. As bruising as markets in their ordinary operation often seem, letting market forces play out has almost always benefited the consumer. United States v. Apple shows why supporting cases that protect price competition, even when doing so hurts some of us, is crucial if antitrust law is to protect and maintain markets.--
_cProvided by publisher
650 0 _aPrice fixing
_xLaw and legislation
_zUnited States.
650 0 _aAntitrust law
_zUnited States.
650 0 _aPublishers and publishing
_zUnited States.
650 0 _aElectronic publishing
_xLaw and legislation
_zUnited States.
942 _2ddc
_cBK
999 _c458
_d458