Tuesday saw Apple and Amazon settling a long-running dispute over using the term "app store" in regards to the companies' digital marketplaces. And in hindsight, one has to wonder if Apple knew there was a possibility of its legal woes turning south this week. On Wednesday, Judge Denise Cote found Apple guilty of conspiring to fix eBook prices with several publishers, reports The Verge.
The Department of Justice originally filed charges against Apple and a number of book publishers in 2012. All five publishers had previously agreed to settlements, with Cupertino left to stand trial for orchestrating an arrangement to collectively work around Amazon's lower eBook prices. A trial to decide damages against Apple will be scheduled later.
Apple's senior VP of internet software and services, Eddy Cue, is directly implicated as leading the price-fixing arrangement. Meetings with publishers began as early as 2009, when Apple began offering publisher's the option to covertly set the prices of their eBook titles, as opposed to accepting the $9.99 limit price-point imposed by Amazon.
"[Jobs'] explanation to a reporter that Amazon's $9.99 price for the same book would be irrelevant because soon all prices will "be the same" is further evidence that Apple understood and intended that Amazon's ability to set retail prices would soon be eliminated," said Cotes in her decision.
Apple has announced plans to appeal the decision.
Matt Clark is a freelance writer covering the world of videogames, tech, and popular culture. Follow him on Twitter @ClarkMatt and MyIGN at Matt_Clark.
Source : ign[dot]com
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