Late Apple chief Steve Jobs announces the launch of the iPad, Jan. 27, 2010. (AP)

Apple and several of the nation's largest book publishers were hit with a federal antitrust lawsuit on Wednesday for allegedly colluding to fix e-book prices.

According to the complaint, filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, at least five publishers—Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette, Penguin and Macmillan—conspired with Apple to fix prices for e-books ahead of the 2010 launch of the iPad tablet and iBookstore, forcing Amazon to raise prices for e-books on the rival Kindle.

Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins and Hachette have already settled with the Justice Department. According to Bloomberg, Apple and Macmillan "have refused to engage in settlement talks" and "deny they colluded to raise prices for digital books." Penguin plans to fight the lawsuit too, Bloomberg said.

Before the iPad came along, publishers had complained that Amazon's $9.99 price for e-books was too heavily discounted. When the iPad made its debut, most e-books sold by Apple were priced at $12.99, with the Cupertino, Calif.-based company allowing publishers to set their own prices—known as the "agency model." Amazon soon allowed publishers to set their own prices, too, driving up the prices of digital editions.

"Apple facilitated the [publishers'] collective effort to end retail price competition by coordinating their transition to an agency model across all retailers," the suit alleges.

A class action lawsuit filed in California District Court last summer by Kindle consumers was the first to allege a conspiracy, CNNMoney.com noted. According to that suit, "booksellers were 'terrified' by the discounted e-book price structure Amazon launched in 2007." The "spooked publishers" colluded with Apple to force Amazon's hand.

Mike Wallace's legendary career in journalism is being remembered this week, following the death of the "60 Minutes" icon on Saturday at 93. One video currently making the rounds online is "The Homosexuals," Wallace's controversial 1967 report that aired on CBS.

[Photos: A look back at a legendary career]

The hour-long program—which predated "60 Minutes" and was anchored by Wallace on "CBS Reports"—took on the then-taboo topic of homosexuality in America.

"The average homosexual, if there be such, is promiscuous," Wallace said in the piece. "He is not interested or capable of a lasting relationship like that of a heterosexual marriage. His sex life, his love life, consists of a series of one-chance encounters at the clubs and bars he inhabits. And even on the streets of the city—the pick-up, the one night stand, these are characteristics of the homosexual relationship."

The report is "now impossible to watch without cringing," The Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf wrote.

Wikipedia has a pretty good backstory on the episode, one which Wallace later regretted.

"I should have known better," he said in 1992.

Wallace also lamented that the report relied, in part, on Charles Socarides, a psychiatrist who felt homosexuality was a mental illness. "That is—God help us—what our understanding was of the homosexual lifestyle a mere 25 years ago," Wallace said in a 1996 interview. "Because nobody was out of the closet and because that's what we heard from doctors, that's what Socarides told us—it was a matter of shame."

Zimmerman in police custody. (Sanford Police Dept.)

Trayvon Martin shooter George Zimmerman has apparently launched a website—TheRealGeorgeZimmerman.com—to relay a message thanking his supporters, and to collect donations via PayPal for his living and defense expenses. The site had been down intermittently on Monday afternoon.

"I am the real George Zimmerman," a message on the site begins. "On Sunday February 26th, I was involved in a life altering event which led me to become the subject of intense media coverage. As a result of the incident and subsequent media coverage, I have been forced to leave my home, my school, my employer, my family and ultimately, my entire life. This website's sole purpose is to ensure my supporters they are receiving my full attention without any intermediaries."

[Related: Geraldo Rivera finds the 'real' culprit]

The site's background is an image of a large American flag. The domain was privately registered on Sunday, according to NetworkSolutions.com records.

NBC News' Mara Schiavocampo said she confirmed through Zimmerman's lawyers that the site is indeed his. CNN and other media outlets followed.

More from Zimmerman's site: