by MARIO AGUILAR
Gizmodo
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote has found that Apple is guilty of colluding with five book publishers to fix ebook prices artificially high in the iBookstore, thereby forcing Amazon and other online booksellers to do the same. There’s no word yet on how much cash money and concessions Apple will have to fork over, but beyond the punishment, hopefully it will serve as a warning to stave off other online retail conspiracies.
In April 2012 the DOJ filed an anti-trust complaint against Apple the five book publishers alleging that the companies “conspired to raise, fix, and stabilize the retail price for newly released and bestselling trade e-books”. Apple went ahead with a non-jury trial last month, and today, the court ruled that Apple had indeed colluded by suggesting that they should all charge prices such as $12.99 and $14,99 in the iBookstore, rather than the standard ebook price of $9.99.
In a statement, given to the AP and others, Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said that Apple had done nothing wrong and that it would appeal the decision.
Filed under: Apple, Books, Corporations, Science & Technology, The Web
