Judge finds Apple guilty of e-book price fixing

Trade

10 July 2013

A US district court judge has found Apple guilty of e-book price fixing after three weeks of court proceedings that ended June 20.

Judge Denise Cote for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York said in an opinion issued Wednesday that "this Court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that Apple conspired to restrain trade".

The US Department of Justice filed the antitrust lawsuit in April last year alleging that Apple and five publishers – Penguin Group, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan – had conspired to raise e-book prices. The publishers, however, have since all settled, agreeing to stop prohibiting wholesale discounts and to pay a cumulative $164 million, earmarked to benefit consumers.

A separate trial will determine damages.