District Judge Denise Cote believes that the U.S Justice Department will indeed be able to prove a pricing conspiracy took place ( via Bloomberg): According to the latest comments from a judge in the high-profile eBook pricing case, Apple might not be able to prove its case when it goes to trial early next month. Bromwich, and thwarting him from performing even the most basic of his court-ordered functions.Īpple asks court to remove ebooks compliance monitor from his postĮarlier this month we heard that Apple submitted to the courts that it engaged in “contentious negotiations”– and not a pricing conspiracy– at a time when publishers were already considering methods of getting Amazon to increase pricing. Instead, Apple has focused on personally attacking Mr. Apple could have been spending the past months working with the External Compliance Monitor with the ultimate goal of reforming its policies and training, and in the process change its corporate tone to one that reflects a commitment to abiding by the requirements of the antitrust laws. Regrettably, it is now clear that Apple has chosen a campaign of character assassination over a culture of compliance. This is not the first example of post-trial arguments, Apple having earlier called for the removal of the court-appointed antitrust monitor, a request rejected by the court.įollowing Apple’s formal request last week that Michael Bromwich be removed from his role in ensuring the Cupertino company meets compliances set by the anti-trust ruling in last year’s ebooks trial, the Department of Justice has pushed back (via GigaOm) with a denial letter accusing Apple of ‘character assassination’. In this event, the proposal is that Apple would pay just $70M, of which the compensation fund would receive $50M.Ĭote questioned if that would be fair and what might happen if the appeals court reversed her ruling on a minor issue. The contentious part is what happens if the appeals court overturns the original verdict but sends the case back for new proceedings. If it loses the appeal, it will pay $50M in legal costs and $400M to a compensation fund for consumers. If Apple wins the appeal, it will pay nothing. ![]() To speed things up, lawyers on both sides agreed what would happen for each of the three possible outcomes of the appeal. ![]() District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan said she found “most troubling” a clause requiring Apple to pay only $70 million if an appeals court reversed her finding that the company is liable for antitrust violations and sent it back to her for further proceedings.Īpple was found guilty of price-fixing, an allegation it always denied and is currently appealing. The judge required to approve the settlement terms has expressed concern that they may be unfair to consumers, reports Business Insider. ![]() Just as we thought Apple’s long-running ebooks suit might finally be settled, the out-of-court agreement has been thrown into doubt.
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