When antitrust laws backfire, it is not a pretty sight.The battle between Amazon and book publishers continues.As documented in this blog over the course of the past year, the Justice Department brought suit against Apple and the major book publishers for their agreement to stand firm on pricing against Amazon.The goal of their agreement was for the publishers to refuse to do business with Amazon unless it stopped deeply discounting e-book prices.Apple would work with the publishers to charge the higher prices for e-books.All of the publishers settled the case with the Justice Department, with some of them settling before the case against them was even announced publicly.Apple went to trial, was found guilty, and is now battling in federal court over the authority and role of a monitor that the court required following the finding of price-fixing by Apple with the publishers (also documented on the blog).The monitor will be with Apple for three years in order to be sure that the company does not engage in price-fixing or anti-competitive behavior again.

However, as that battle proceeds, Amazon is staging a pricing battle with publishers in the United States and Europe. The heart of the battle is between Amazon and Hachette, the parent company of Little Brown, and publisher of authors such as Malcolm Gladwell.Hachette and Amazon are negotiating pricing, and the negotiations have gone so poorly that the private discussions have spilled over into the media.Hachette wants more money for its books, and Amazon wants to sell at lower prices. However, Amazon is delaying shipments of Hachette books and raising book prices so that the sales of Hachette titles are affected.Indeed, Amazon is also recommending other books for customers in lieu of the Hachette books. The authors affected the most by the Amazon tactics are the new authors who do not have a fan base. (see video for one author's description of the situation) Those in the publishing world say that Amazon is thereby controlling market entry in terms of new authors' works being able to compete with established authors.Jonathan Mahler, "Toe-to-Toe With a Giant," New York Times, June 2, 2014, p. B1http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/02/business/media/hachettes-chief-at-front-lines-in-fight-with-amazon-over-e-books.html?_r=0

The interesting aspect of the situation is whether there can be antitrust implications in a situation in which the refusal to deal is the result of Amazon trying to get lower book prices for its customers.The Justice Department is not involved because it cannot see why a drive for lower prices is anti-competitive. However, antitrust experts point to the creation of a monopoly, and not for reasons based on skill, foresight or industry (hard work).The risk of monopolization allegations is real.

http://in.reuters.com/video/2014/05/28/amazon-could-hold-out-4-6-weeks-in-hache?videoId=313114400

In addition, for Amazon, an evolving issue is whether customers will become irritated by not being able to buy certain books from their favorite "point, click, and buy" site.

A question to contemplate is whether the first publisher to reach a deal with Amazon will leave the other publishers behind, and will we be reduced to a one-publisher world.But, an aspect of Amazon's business that prevents monopolization there is that Amazon runs a highly successful self-publishing business for authors.Amazon is able to offer more types of books by a wider array of authors.

The strategic planning of Amazon is a case study that must accompany the discussion of the legal issues.Oh, and one more interesting tidbit, Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, purchased theWashington Post.The newspaper has covered the Hachette battle, but it has not been able to get a comment from its owner on his company's tactics.ThePoststorieson Amazon have disclosed who owns the paper - the guy at the center of the story.

1.Describe the original antitrust suit in the publishing world.

2.Explain the antitrust issues in the current Amazon negotiations.

please add where you got the information