Apple Guilty of Colluding on E-Book Pricing, Judge Says

A US federal judge Wednesday found Apple guilty of colluding with five publishers and artificially driving up the price of e-books before it entered the market with the debut of the iPad in 2010. Apple is bound to appeal after the court fixes on a penalty next week. The Justice Department claimed Apple let the publisher set higher prices on bestsellers and new releases as a way to offset Amazon’s low $9.99 price point on the same books. As a result the DOJ said e-book prices in general rose to $12.99-$14.99. The publishers settled with the government ahead of trial but a resolute Apple, apparently acting on principle, refused to settle and denied any price-fixing. It did settle with the European Commission last year without admitting any wrongdoing.

read more