[Swordmaker]

You're kidding, right? You're telling me that I--an e-book consumer--benefit from a price-fixing scheme that raises prices?

Yes, you do... and you don't see it because you think only as a consumer of discounted wares. The prices could NOT sustain the industry of the goods you were consuming. The devil is in the costs of the details... You cannot maintain an industry selling the majority of your goods below cost!

[Publius Valerius]

The prices could NOT sustain the industry of the goods you were consuming.

The publishers were getting paid by Amazon. But even taking your statement at face value, who needs publishing houses anymore? This isn't 1950. If Amazon wants to put the publishing industry out of business, I'm OK with that. There's no rule that says publishing houses need to exist.

You cannot maintain an industry selling the majority of your goods below cost!

Let's leave that to the market to decide. Amazon thinks that it can.