In the old days, manufacturing plants and distribution networks created sizeable barriers to entry which kept upstarts out of the record companies' business.

ECONOMIST: A new song

If manufacturing and distribution are no longer barriers to entry, the scary question for the record companies is whether any other barriers to entry remain.

ECONOMIST: The record industry takes fright

"Apple's entry created new competition in eBook distribution and a vastly larger pool of eBook consumers, " it wrote in its motion.

WSJ: U.S. Warns Apple, Publishers on E-Book Pricing