Nation : U.S. Files Cut-Rate Book Charges

WASHINGTON — The government today charged six of the nation’s largest book publishers with illegally discriminating against independent bookstores by selling books at lower prices to major bookstore chains.

The Federal Trade Commission issued administrative complaints against Harper & Row, William Morrow, Macmillan, the Putnam Berkley Group, Random House and Simon & Schuster. The agency charged that Waldenbooks, B. Dalton and Crown Books enjoyed a “favored purchaser” status.