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E-books Rising; U.S., EU Antitrust Probes Grind On

Thu, Apr 05 2012 00:00:00 E
 Posted 

E-books are growing fast in popularity, thanks to the proliferation of e-readers and tablet computers, such as Amazon's (AMZN) Kindle and Apple 's (AAPL) iPad. A new study reports that one-fifth of American adults have read an e-book in the past year.

The holiday season saw a spike in ownership of e-readers and tablets, the Pew Internet & American Life Project reported Wednesday. The percentage of Americans who have read an e-book in the past year reached 21% in February, up from 17% in mid-December, Pew said. About 28% of American adults own either an e-reader or a tablet, the research firm reported.

Separately, digital versions of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books are selling like flapjacks. The CEO of the Pottermore e-book store said the site sold more than $1.5 million worth of Harry Potter books in the store's first three days online, PaidContent reports.

Also, Amazon on Thursday launched a Spanish-language e-book store for U.S. customers called "eBooks Kindle en Espanol." It features more than 30,000 Spanish-language Kindle books.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department is nearing a settlement of e-book price-fixing charges with three of the world's biggest publishers, Bloomberg reports. CBS Corp. 's (CBS) Simon & Schuster, News Corp. 's (NWS) HarperCollins and Lagardere's Hachette Book Group could finalize an accord with the DOJ next week, Bloomberg said.

However, Apple and publishers Pearson and Macmillan are reluctant to agree to terms sought by U.S. and European antitrust authorities, the Wall Street Journal reported. Apple and major book publishers are suspected of colluding to push up e-book prices and are under investigation by U.S. and European Commission regulators.

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