Apple To Pay $450 million As Part Of A Settlement Related to e-books Price-fixing Case
The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear Apple's challenge to an appellate court decision that it conspired with five publishers to increase e-book prices, so Apple will have to pay $450 million as part of a previous settlement.
Last june, the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the U.S. Department of Justice and found Apple liable for engaging in a conspiracy that violated federal antitrust laws.
The 2nd Circuit's ruling followed a 2013 decision by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote after a non-jury trial that Apple and publishers tried to eliminate retail price competition and raise e-book prices.
The Justice Department said the scheme caused some e-book prices to rise to $12.99 or $14.99 from the $9.99 price previously charged by Amazon.com.
Publishers that the Justice Department said conspired with Apple include Lagardere SCA's Hachette Book Group Inc, HarperCollins Publishers LLC, Penguin Group Inc, Simon & Schuster Inc and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH's Macmillan.