Kindle Users to Get Refunds and Lower Prices on E-Books After Settlement

Good news Kindle owners: If you’re the owner of an Amazon Kindle and you bought e-books from certain publishers in the last few years, you’re getting a refund on past purchases, and future purchases will be a little cheaper. But don’t get too excited, unless you’ve been a really heavy buyer.

In an email to Kindle customers today, the retailer said that a legal settlement between the attorneys general of most of the states in the union and publishers including Hachette, Simon & Schuster and Harper Collins (which, like this Web site, is owned by News Corp), entitles consumers to refunds of between 30 cents and $1.32 on each book purchased. Additionally, the publishers will have less power to set future prices, which means that the prices on e-books for the Kindle may be a little lower in the near future.