Competition Bureau Seeks Records from Indigo Over E-Book Pricing Probe

These days, the e-book market seems to be one of the main focuses of both Canadian and US regulators: not so long ago, Apple settled an e-book price-fixing lawsuit with the government. Now the Canadian Competition Bureau has made another major move in its ongoing investigation of anti-competitive e-book pricing practices, reports the Globe and Mail.

Competition bureau

The Bureau has asked Indigo and Kobo to hand over “certain records,” although this doesn’t mean that either of the aforementioned companies is subject to the ongoing investigation of pricing practices.

“At this time, there is no conclusion of wrongdoing by Penguin, Kobo or Indigo, and no application has been filed with the Competition Tribunal or any other court to seek remedies for any alleged anti-competitive conduct on the part of Penguin, Kobo or Indigo,” Scott said in an e-mail.

However, in case they do find any suspicious activity, the watchdog won’t hesitate to take action.

The bureau initially launched an investigation of the Canadian e-book industry in 2012. Since then, the watchdog announced that four major publishers — Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster — have agreed to lower the prices of e-books.

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