It s a long story, but could this be the end? A federal appeals court has agreed with a 2013 lower court ruling that Apple violated antitrust law when it conspired with publishers to fix e-book prices.
The 2-1 decision comes after years of legal wrangling over Apple s dealings with publishers as the company in 2010 entered a market that had been dominated by Amazon.com. The Internet retailer, maker of the Kindle e-reader, had effectively set $9.99 as a standard price for e-books. But after Apple and five major book publishers talked, publishers got more say in pricing their titles — and e-book prices rose.
The 2013 ruling helped bring about changes in e-book pricing — including some price-slashing — and appointed an Apple antitrust monitor for two years.
Also because of today s appeals court ruling, Apple will have to pay $450 million as part of a settlement with individuals and 33 states reached last year in a civil lawsuit brought about by the Justice Department s case.
The 2013 finding against Apple was bolstered in part by emails and quotes from the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. In a biography of Jobs, he is said to have urged the publishers to switch to an agency pricing model, in which they set the prices for their titles, with Apple taking a 30 percent cut. Amazon, which had previously set prices, was forced to switch to the same model and raise prices.
The book publishers involved were Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin Group, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan.
While the book publishers eventually agreed to settlements, Apple chose to fight the Justice Department s case. (Amazon customers last year began receiving credits as part of a settlement with publishers.)
Photo: Apple s iBooks 2 app is demonstrated for the media on an iPad at an event in the Guggenheim Museum Jan. 19, 2012 in New York City. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)
