eBooks Settlement Talks Advancing: Sources

The Justice Department could reach a settlement in the next few weeks with Apple Inc. and some of the major publishers suspected of colluding to push up electronic book prices, according to two people close to the negotiations. The deal could also force a shift, at least temporarily, in pricing control from publishers to retailers, one of the people said.

Such a move to a “wholesale model” would not only benefit consumers but also Amazon, which had been the leading bargain eBook retailer with its Kindle reader.

The Justice Department is seeking to unravel agreements Apple secured from five publishers.