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Sen. Schumer Op-Ed on E-Book Suit: DOJ should think again

Sen. Charles Schumer, in a strongly worded Wall Street Journal op-ed piece published today, called for the Justice Department to reconsider its e-book antitrust lawsuit, noting that “the suit could wipe out the publishing industry as we know it, making it much harder for young authors to get published.” Sen. Schumer continued:

The suit will restore Amazon to the dominant position atop the e-books market it occupied for years before competition arrived in the form of Apple. If that happens, consumers will be forced to accept whatever prices Amazon sets. All of us will lose the vibrant resources a diverse publishing universe provides. As Scott Turow, president of the Author’s Guild, has explained, the Justice Department’s suit is “grim news for everyone who cherishes a rich literary culture.”

A powerful member of the Senate Judiciary Committee gets it. A bit of welcome news, this hot summer.

The full op-ed is available here.