The Competition Bureau has asked Indigo Books and Music Inc. to hand over
documents as part of its ongoing investigation into alleged anti-competitive
e-book pricing practices.
The watchdog said Tuesday it filed an application in Federal Court last week
seeking “certain records” from Canada’s largest bookstore chain and Kobo Inc.,
which is owned by Japanese ecommerce firm Rakuten Inc.
Greg Scott, a spokesman for the bureau, says the request was just for
documents and does not mean that Indigo or Kobo are the subject of the
investigation.
“At this time, there is no conclusion of wrongdoing by Penguin, Kobo or
Indigo, and no application has been filed with the Competition Tribunal or any
other court to seek remedies for any alleged anti-competitive conduct on the
part of Penguin, Kobo or Indigo,” Scott said in an e-mail.
“As always, should the Bureau find evidence of conduct contrary to the
Competition Act, the Bureau will take action, where appropriate.”
An Indigo spokeswoman says the company was notified last week about the court
application.
“It should be made clear that Indigo is not a target of the inquiry but
rather has records that may be relevant to this investigation,” Janet Eger said
in an e-mail.
“As a general policy, Indigo does not comment on matters before the courts or
other tribunals.”
The probe is part of the watchdog’s ongoing investigation into the Canadian
electronic book industry, which was launched in 2012.
Last February, the bureau announced that four major publishers of electronic
books agreed to changes that will result in lower retail prices.
The deal was expected to remove restrictions that prevented ebook retailers
from lowering their prices, contrary to Canada’s competition law.
The bureau said agreements have been signed with Hachette Book Group,
HarperCollins, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster.
Editor's note: An earlier version said the Competition Bureau was investigating Indigo over anti-competition e-book pricing practices. In fact, Indigo is not the subject of the investigation but has been asked for documents as part of the bureau’s ongoing examination of such pricing practices.