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States want Apple to pay at least $280M in e-books antitrust case, push for $840M

Apple's closing slide in its e-book antitrust case. | Source: U.S. District Court

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The state attorneys general suing Apple for price fixing are seeking $280 million in damages and will ask that the court order the award tripled to $840 million in advance of an upcoming damages trial, a new report says.


The demands were made in a memorandum filed Friday with Judge Denise Cote, the federal judge presiding over the case, according to Bloomberg. The plaintiffs argue that Apple should be subjected to treble damages thanks to the company's "conclusively proven" role as the scheme's leader.

"The three cases pending before this court allege the same conspiracy, by the same conspirators, with the same goals, methods, and effects," the memo reportedly read. The document was sealed upon submission.

Apple was found guilty last July of joining with five major publishers in a conspiracy to fix the price of e-books. As a result of the verdict —  which is still under appeal —  the company was forced to alter its agreements with publishers and was assigned an external antitrust compliance monitor, a penalty which Apple is also fighting.

A new trial to determine damages in the case is set for May of this year.



132 Comments

thebmt 10 comments · 10 Years

Ridiculous. If anyone should be on trial it's Amazon not Apple. Apple coming along was one of the best things that could have happened for the eBook market, considering it allowed for some, you know, actual competition - yet apparently Apple are the bad guys and Amazon's monopoly is completely lawful. It's stupidity like this that makes me extremely glad I don't live in the US and have to deal with the idiocy of the legal system there.

pacificfilm 134 comments · 14 Years

Three states licking their Mr Burns lips to cover state budget deficits on Apple's dime.

jpmia 63 comments · 11 Years

they had a great quarter lets get some $ out of them..

pazuzu 1728 comments · 11 Years

[quote name="TheBMT" url="/t/161874/states-want-apple-to-pay-at-least-280m-in-e-books-antitrust-case-push-for-triple-damages#post_2466825"]Ridiculous. If anyone should be on trial it's Amazon not Apple. Apple coming along was one of the best things that could have happened for the eBook market, considering it allowed for some, you know, actual competition - yet apparently Apple are the bad guys and Amazon's monopoly is completely lawful. It's stupidity like this that makes me extremely glad I don't live in the US and have to deal with the idiocy of the legal system there.[/quote] Freedom isn't free. And how was making me pay more for a eBook actually better? When Amazon start selling music against Apple's monopoly they actually charged less not more. And this was when Apple's iTunes were not the great quality they are today. Thinking you can have it both ways is actually pretty stupid.

greginprague 492 comments · 13 Years

Quote:
Originally Posted by pazuzu Freedom isn't free.
And how was making me pay more for a eBook actually better? When Amazon start selling music against Apple's monopoly they actually charged less not more. And this was when Apple's iTunes were not the great quality they are today.
Thinking you can have it both ways is actually pretty stupid.

The average e-book price went down if you follow the facts.  Amazon was/is trying to commoditize books which causes brilliant authors to look to other fields to make decent money.  If you want to read garbage then Amazon's method is the way to get there since soon that's all that would be available....