It was announced today that a federal judge approved a settlement of an E-book pricing agreement (see our earlier blog post). This should bring back some retail discounting, which would benefit consumers of E-books.

As Julie Bosman reported for the New York Times: “A federal judge on Thursday approved a settlement with three major publishers in a civil antitrust case brought by the Department of Justice over collusion in E-book pricing, paving the way for a war over the cost of digital books in the coming months. Denise L. Cote, the federal judge in Manhattan who is overseeing the case, rejected arguments against the settlement, saying they were ‘insufficient’ to deny its approval.”

Bosman also wrote that: “The settlement approved on Thursday called for the publishers to end their contracts with Apple within one week. The publishers must also terminate contracts with E-book retailers that contain restrictions on the retailer’s ability to set the price of an E-book or contain a so-called ‘most favored nation’ clause, which says that no other retailer is allowed to sell e-books for a lower price. For the next two years, the settling publishers may not agree to contracts with E-book retailers that restrict the retailer’s ‘discretion over e-book pricing,’ the court said. For five years, the publishers are not allowed to make contracts with retailers that includes a most favored nation clause.”

The remaining question: Will the losing parties further appeal this ruling? Stay tuned!!

To read more from Bosman, click the New York Times‘ icon.