Germany sees possible audiobooks cartel

Tech November 16, 2015 16:30

bonn - The Federal Cartel Office is investigating agreements between the American technology giants Amazon and Apple in the field of audio books. Possibly abusing their dominant market position, the German competition watchdog reported Monday.

Amazon sells audiobooks through its subsidiary Audible, and also supplies Apple sells through its iTunes store. The two companies have signed long-term contracts on that. The Federal Cartel Office wants to know or who do leave enough space for publishers to sell their audiobooks through other channels. The investigation follows a complaint from an interest group of German booksellers. Who recently stated that Amazon abused its market position by participating publishers of audio books to force settle for very low fees for their products. The Bundeskartellamt is in his own words in close contact with the European Commission, the German booksellers have filed their objections too. She also previously complained about unfair trade practices by Amazon in the sale of electronic books (e- books).