Federal Judge Finds Apple Guilty Of E-books Price-Fixing

(RTTNews) - A U.S District Court Judge on Wednesday ruled that Apple violated antitrust laws by facilitating and executing a conspiracy with five companies to raise the retail price of e-books.

The ruling indicated Apple and the publishers to have violated Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, in a verdict that comes less than three weeks from the closing arguments.

"Companies cannot ignore the antitrust laws when they believe it is in their economic self-interest to do so. This decision by the court is a critical step in undoing the harm caused by Apple's illegal actions, " said Bill Baer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division.

In a trial lasting over three weeks, federal prosecutor Mark Ryan said Apple offered publishers a way to fight back against Amazon by raising the prices of e-books. Apple negotiated a 30 percent cut of each sale through its iBookstore, which would debut on their iPad.

The federal lawyers also showed e-mails exchanged between Apple and the publishers in the weeks leading up to the introduction of the iPad and the e-book store.

Evidence showed the prices of the conspiring publishers' e-books increased by an average of 18 percent as a result of the collusive effort led by Apple.

The five publishers include Penguin, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Hachette Book Group, who were accused of conspiring with Apple and have already settled the issue with the authorities.

With today's ruling, consumers again benefit from retail price competition and pay less for their e-books. "This result is a victory for millions of consumers who choose to read books electronically, " Baer added.

Apple shares are currently trading at $421.96, down $0.39 or 0.09%, on the Nasdaq.