Comment by lores

Yes, publishers have not proven to be particularly civic-minded in the past. I'm having a hard time picking who to root for, but it's probably slightly better to have a world of many cartels than a single one - and it gives a chance for the other retail channels to form a block too.

On a side note, France solved this particular problem by mandating a unique price for books, regardless of the retail channel, in order to protect less-commercial titles. Not exactly scalable to all sectors, but Art will not be cheapened.