Apple lawsuit may mean money for you

HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) - The recent rise of e-books is turning the page on a new generation of readers. It's also opening the door for unethical and potentially illegal practices.

1 in 5: That's the number of American's who've read an e-book in the past year.

You can download the books on e-readers like Barnes & Noble's ' Nook ', Amazon's ' Kindle ' and even Apple's ' I-Pad .'

Apple was just slapped with a federal lawsuit. They are accused of conspiring with five of the nation's largest publishers to drive up the price of e-books.

They allegedly got worried that Amazon's $9.99 price tag would lead people to demand lower prices, even for print books.

The lawsuit claims consumers were forced to pay millions of dollars more than they should have.

Three of those book publishers settled the lawsuit, but Apple and the other two claim they didn't do anything wrong.

When it's all said and done, if it's proved that the prices were fixed, it may mean a check or discount for you on future e-book purchases.