DOJ to Sue Apple and Five Major Publishers for Agency Model Pricing Plan

Anti-trust suits have a way of creating unintended consequences. If this case goes forward, it will have ramifications for those authors who self-publish.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/08/us-apple-ebooks-idUSBRE82715J20120308

It will be interesting to see what the fallout will be. Speculation on my part leads to the following possible outcomes:

• More authors move towards self-publishing their e-books 
• Amazon will somehow benefit from this 
• This could be another nail in the coffin for the Legacy Publishers
• Consumers, who should be the primary beneficiaries of an anti-trust lawsuit, will not see any real benefit as a result of the lawsuit

Being a bit cynical, it will be interesting to see who is the driving force behind this possible lawsuit. Of course, it will be the party who has the most to gain should the government find against the plaintiffs.