U.S. sues Apple, publishers over e-book prices

— -- Prices on some electronic books could soon be coming down.

The U.S. slapped Apple and five of the nations six largest publishers with an antitrust lawsuit Wednesday, charging that the group, in a bid to blunt Amazon's dominance, conspired to raise the prices that consumers pay on e-books.

The lawsuit, filed by the Justice Department in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, said the effort by those involved was intended to counter popular pricing of $9.99 set by Amazon.

Attorney General Eric Holder told a Justice Department news conference on Wednesday that "we believe that consumers paid millions of dollars more for some of the most popular titles" as a result of the alleged conspiracy.

Publishers teamed up with Apple to restrain retail price competition, according to the lawsuit, to the detriment of consumers. As a result, millions of e-books that would have sold at retail for $9.99 or other low prices instead sold under an "agency model" agreement, usually $12.99 or $14.99, the suit said.

"Apple clearly understood that its participation in this scheme would result in higher prices to consumers," said the lawsuit.

Apple did not respond to requests for comment.

The moves underscore the publishing industry's concerns for Amazon's control of e-book pricing. Publishers saw the so-called agency model as a way to prevent dominance of e-books by Amazon and the lowering of prices to levels unsustainable for themselves and booksellers.

"This is a big win for Kindle owners, and we look forward to being allowed to lower prices on more Kindle books," Amazon said in a statement.

Since Amazon's 2007 launch of its popular Kindle reader, the online giant has sold, and set price expectations for, best sellers at a standard $9.99.

HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster and Hachette Book Group agreed to settle the antitrust case, but Apple, Penguin Group and Macmillan have not, according to the Justice Department.

Apple's alleged conspiracy with publishers came about when the iPad was nearing its launch, the lawsuit said. Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs described the company's strategy for negotiating with publishers, according to lawsuit.

"We'll go to [an] agency model, where you set the price, and we get our 30%, and yes, the customer pays a little more, but that's what you want anyway," Jobs said.