UNITED STATES– A class action lawsuit settled by Apple is having an effect on millions of e-book readers.
According to Inc., the lawsuit stems from 2009, when Amazon was dominating the e-book market with 90 percent of the total sales.
Apple wanted to get into the market, and offered to let publishers set their own prices on Apple’s platform, and agreed to take only a 30 percent cut. Of course, this agreement was conditional upon the fact that the publishers agree not to sell to any rival (like say, Amazon or Barnes & Noble) for less.
Almost overnight, some e-books that had been selling for $9.99 on Amazon rose to $12.99 or $14.99.
After the U.S. Department of Justice got involved, a lawsuit was filed, and Apple agreed to pay $400 million to the millions of people who bought e-books at inflated prices.
As a result of the lawsuit, millions of Americans received free credits in their Amazon, Barnes & Noble or other e-book retailer accounts.
This is coming to light now because these free credits will expire if not used by Saturday.
The easiest way to know if you have received free credits or not is to simply check your account and see if there are any extra, unknown funds appearing in the account.
Specifically, Amazon is directing users to this page to explain the situation, and advise customers whether or not they received credits.
