Apple Broke Antitrust Law in E-Books Pricing, Judge Says

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) Apple Inc. (AAPL), the world’s biggest technology company, violated antitrust law by engaging in a scheme to fix the prices of electronic books, a federal judge ruled in a suit brought by the U.S. government.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote, who tried the case without a jury, ruled against Apple in a decision filed today in federal court in Manhattan.

“The plaintiffs have shown that Apple conspired to raise the retail price of e-books and that they are entitled to injunctive relief,” Cote said in her opinion. The judge ordered a trial on potential damages.

The U.S. sued Apple and five publishers in April 2012, claiming the maker of the iPad pushed publishers to sign agreements letting it sell digital copies of their books under what’s known as the agency model. Under that model, publishers, and not retailers, set prices for each book, with Apple getting 30 percent. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-10/apple-found-to-violate-antitrust-law-in-e-book-pricing.html