Apple has been found guilty of price fixing eBooks by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan. In 2012 Apple got sued for price fixing its eBooks available in the iBook store together with 6 other publishers. Later this month there will be a “trial of damage”.
The agreement between Apple and the publishers was made to beat Amazon’s low book price available for the Kindle, this agreement let publishers set the price for the books and not the retailers, allowing to price books at $9,99 instead of $12,99 – $15,99 boosting Apple’s ebooks sales.
At the “trial of Damage” which will take place later this month, we will most likely see Judge Denise Cote ask Apple to raise its eBook prices
Here is the final conclusion:
Based on the trial record, and for the reasons stated herein, this Court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that Apple conspired to restrain trade in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act and relevant state statutes to the extent those laws are congruent with Section 1. A scheduling order will follow regarding the Plaintiffs’ request for injunctive relief and damages.
Here is the US court vs Apple
Source: UScourt
