arieng - 5:05 pm on Feb 11, 2010 (gmt 0)

If you are forced to advertise the higher price, and everybody else, too - why not simple charge the higher price?

In short, because Amazon doesn't. The top tier of online retailers, Amazon's not the only one, don't seem to have any respect for MAP. Moreover, they are willing to work on much slimmer margins than anyone else, figuring that their deeper pockets will allow them to outlast the competition.

I'm no fan of complicated MAP policies, but without strengthening them beyond what is allowable today, I see a much less competitive online landscape in the future.