US: Apple bound to face 33 attorneys general in eBooks suits

Apple confirmed earlier this week that a federal judge denied the company’s request to have lawsuits filed by state attorneys general tossed, forcing the company to face the cases filed for eBook price-fixing.

US District Judge Denise Cote, who also presided over the US Department of Justice’s lawsuit against the company. Judge Cote ruled last July that Apple conspired with eBooks publishers to fix product prices between 2009 and 2010; the case has lead to an external monitor being appointed to the company.

While the DOJ did not seek economic sanctions against Apple, now 33 states and territories are seeking damages for the conspiracy. A trial is scheduled for July 14.

According to reports, Apple faces hundreds of millions of dollars in damages; the states are collectively seeking $840 million.

As the case moved to the damages phase, Apple had claimed the states did not have standing to sue for such damages. But Judge Cote thought otherwise.

”Apple has cited no authority to support the distinction it is advocating here between the standing to seek an end to an antitrust violation and the standing to seek damages for that violation,” she wrote in her decision.

Full Content: Reuters

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