(PatrioticPost.com)- On Tuesday, the Department of Justice filed a new antitrust lawsuit – but this time, it’s not directed at Big Tech.
Instead, the Justice Department is trying to block Penguin Random House from purchasing book publisher Simon & Schuster for $2.18 billion. The sale was announced last year and would see two of the biggest and best-known publishers in the world become one – striking a major blow to competition in the publishing industry.
According to the Justice Department, the merger would be harmful to authors and consumers, as the two publishers often bid on the same books. It effectively means that Penguin would be paying for the convenience of no longer having to compete with another publishing house – depriving authors of multiple publishing options and making it easier to low-ball authors who want the prestige of being published by one of these two major publishers.
“If consummated, this merger would likely result in substantial harm to authors of anticipated top-selling books and ultimately, consumers,” the Department of Justice wrote.
Post-merger, the statement added, the two biggest publishers in the world would control over two-thirds of the publishing market.
Far-left Attorney General Merrick Garland actually made a good point on this one, saying that if the two biggest book publishers in the world merge, then it would give the company “unprecedented control over this important industry.”
In response to the lawsuit, the two publishing houses said that the sale would be “pro-consumer” and “pro-author,” and even claimed that blocking the sale would “harm the very authors D.O.J. purports to protect.”
Penguin Random House says that authors would benefit from the deal by giving them access to Simon & Schuster’s massive distribution, printing, and shipping centers.
What do you think – just a convenient excuse for another big business wanting to monopolize on one of the nation’s most important industries?
