No horse hockey.
If a publisher expects $X for said book, Amazon sells it for less than X, then what does the publisher get? THAT is horse hockey.
Now - say this same publisher wants to be paid $10 for each book - then Amazon should set the offer price at a point that gives the publisher $10. IF the book does not sell at that price, then so be it. The publisher then has to determine if they will accept a lower price.
And that is what publishers were trying to do when Amazon decided to arbitrarily set prices, then penalize publishers who wanted higher prices. They went to Apple who agreed to the Publisher’s desires. Now Amazon is miffed and pulled some strings in the DOJ.
Yes and colluded with the rest of the publishers to set prices higher. Which is against the law.
Amazon saying they will sell at a price no higher than "x" is not illegal. However the Publishers and Apple agreeing to sell at no lower than "x" is considered price fixing and indeed illegal.
"If a publisher expects $X for said book, Amazon sells it for less than X, then what does the publisher get? THAT is horse hockey."
Ahhh No, if the Publisher wants a higher price he is allowed to either sell it himself or go to another retailer. BUT He is not allowed to collude with other Publishers to fix a price so as to create a "false bottom" in the market.