The verdict is in: a US district judge found Apple, Inc. guilty of conspiring to fix prices of ebooks sold online, a decision that puts an end to a longstanding case. According to reports, US district judge Denise Cote ruled against Apple in Manhattan on Wednesday, serving a major win for the US Department of Justice.
Judge Cote further said she would schedule a future trial to establish damages sought by the 33 US states that sued Apple.
The ebooks trial began as the DOJ accused apple, along with major ebooks publishers, or conspiring to raise the online price of ebooks beginning in 2009 in conjunction with the tech giant’s release of its e-reader, the iPad tablet. The DOJ claimed the collusion aimed to undercut Amazon’s dominance in the online ebooks retail market. All five publishers – Hachette Book Group, Macmillan, HarperCollins, Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster – settled with the DOJ before going to trial.
Closing arguments in the case occurred on June 20. The ruling could have a major effect on the way ebooks are sold throughout the nation, though the immediate result of the case has yet to be observed.
Click here for Judge Cote’s full opinion.
Click here to read a statement from the DOJ.
Click here to read a statement from Apple, Inc.
Full Content: Reuters
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
DirecTV and Disney Resolve Dispute, Restore Programming for Subscribers
Sep 15, 2024 by
CPI
UK Antitrust Authority Raises Concerns Over Vodafone-Three Merger
Sep 15, 2024 by
CPI
Brazilian Supreme Court Lifts Freeze on Starlink Accounts, Transfers $3.3 Million to National Treasury
Sep 15, 2024 by
CPI
Steptoe Expands Antitrust Practice with Key London Hire
Sep 15, 2024 by
CPI
Instant Ad Auctions at the Heart of Google’s Federal Monopoly Case
Sep 15, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Canada & Mexico
Sep 3, 2024 by
CPI
Competitive Convergence: Mexico’s 30-Year Quest for Antitrust Parity with its Northern Neighbor
Sep 3, 2024 by
Francisco Javier Núñez Melgoza
Competition and Digital Markets in North America: A Comparative Study of Antitrust Investigations in Mexico and the United States
Sep 3, 2024 by
Julio Garcia
Recent Antitrust Development in Mexico: COFECE’s Preliminary Report on Amazon and Mercado Libre
Sep 3, 2024 by
Alejandra Palacios Prieto
The Cost of Making COFECE Disappear
Sep 3, 2024 by
Mateo Fernández