Apple offers to settle ebook price fixing row in Europe but will fight case in the US The technology giant has been accused of colluding with five publishers to fix the price of ebooks, in order to loosen the stranglehold Amazon's Kindle has on the ebook market and give its own iPad device a boost. The controversy centres on the so-called "agency model" of pricing, which allows publishers to dictate the charge for each ebook as long as the retailer gets 30pc of the profits. Publishers Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin Group, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan all signed up to the scheme with Apple, before it was adopted by other retailers. However, the arrangement has sparked controversy and legal battles on both sides of the Atlantic. Last December, the European Union opened an investigation into anti-competitive behaviour. In America, the Department of Justice (DoJ) has launched legal action against Apple and the publishers for alleged collusion. The technology company was initially tight-lipped about the US case but last week broke its silence to declare itself innocent and paint itself as a hero for breaking Amazon's "monopolistic grip." It said the iPad's bookstore "fostered innovation and competition." However, it has taken an altogether different approach in Brussels. Joaquín Almunia, the European Union competition commissioner, said he has received settlement offers from Apple and all the publishers other than Penguin. "[The publishers] are making proposals to reach an early resolution of the case," he said. The terms of the proposals were not disclosed. Penguin has said it will not settle either case out of court because it has "done nothing wrong." Macmillan has refused to settle with the DoJ on the grounds that its terms are "too onerous." The other three publishers have all settled with the US law enforcerment agency.