Connecticut's Attorney General's Office is looking into possible shenanigans between the country's largest eBook publishers and two heavyweight dealers, Amazon.com and Apple, Inc. According to Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, both Amazon and Apple have reached agreements with several eBook publishers ensuring that they each receive the best prices over the competition.

"These agreements among publishers, Amazon and Apple appear to have already resulted in uniform prices for many of the most popular eBooks -- potentially depriving consumers of competitive prices," Blumenthal said. "The eBook market is set to explode -- with analysts predicting that eBook readers will be among the holiday season's biggest electronic gifts -- warranting prompt review of the potential anti-consumer impacts."

Blumenthal went on to say that Amazon and Apple own the lion's share of the eBook market, "allowing their most-favored nation clauses to effectively set the floor prices for the most popular eBooks." These kinds of agreements, Blumenthal contends, inevitably lead to coordinated pricing and discourages discounting.

More here, including the letters Blumenthal sent to Amazon and Apple.