UK Begins E-Book Price Probe

The UK trade regulator said it is investigating antitrust complaints related to digital-book pricing, a move that comes about six months after state authorities in the US began similar probes.

The Office of Fair Trading said in a statement that it began to investigate pricing arrangements between book publishers and digital retailers after receiving "a significant number of complaints." It didn't elaborate on the source of the complaints, and said it is looking to see whether the arrangements breach antitrust rules. "The investigation is at an early stage and it should not be assumed that the parties involved have breached [antitrust] law," the OFT said in a statement. An OFT spokesman declined to elaborate.