Less than a week after the Department of Justice ruled on a settlement between e-book publishers and retailers, prices have started to creep downward. According to a chart put together by paidContent on HarperCollins titles, several books are already seeing price drops from the recommended list price now that Apple is no longer running the scene with its agency model pricing.

Apple came under scrutiny back in March 2012 for using the agency model in its pricing, wherein publishers set the price they sell e-books for in Apple's iBookstore, taking into account Apple's 30 percent cut, and adjust their prices accordingly if they still wanted to make a profit. The catch was that Apple also stipulated that publishers' books could only be sold in the iBookstore if the books weren't priced lower anywhere else, thus forcing publishers to apply higher prices at competitors including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

The DoJ sued Apple and publishers including Hachette, Simon and Schuster, and HarperCollins for antitrust practices in April. The three publishers above agreed to settle the case almost immediately and pay back $69 million to customers who were subject to the price fixing. Apple's claims that Amazon enjoyed a tyrannical rule over the e-book market before Apple came along did not fly with the judge.

HarperCollins has already entered into new contracts with its e-book retailers, and the effects of the lack of price fixing have been immediate. Of the titles laid out in a handy chart by paidContent, all are being sold below list price on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Google Books; only one of the checked titles on Apple's iBookstore is being sold above list price (Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon goes for $18.99 from Apple, a dollar more than the list price). Kobo appears to match list prices in most cases, except for a couple books that are a dollar or two below the suggested value. But the lower prices may have a downside: Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) has worried in the past that this new model may put the e-book market at the mercy of retailers who can set rock-bottom prices and edge out competitors to eventually control consumer access to books.