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Apple has made a long needed change to its iBookstore that brings the ability for users to give books as gifts for whatever the occasion might be. The feature is … Continue reading

The iBookstore lawsuit promising partial refunds for ebook buyers who paid over-the-odds for their downloads is another step closer to making payouts, with cash from Penguin and Macmillan swelling the combined coffers to $162.25m. In a new batch of emails to iBookstore customers affected by the price-fixing suit, the State Attorneys General and Class Counsel […]

The US Department of Justice isn’t buying publishers’ arguments that proposed injunctions against Apple for alleged e-book price fixing are excessive and contradictory. DOJ attorney Lawrence Buterman claims in a response letter that the penalties against Apple are necessarily harsher, since it didn’t settle the accusations like its reported co-conspirators. The group objection even justifies Apple’s punishment, Buterman claims; it suggests that publishers are just waiting until the end of a two-year ban on agency pricing to raise prices once again. The five-year restriction imposed on Apple could keep prices down for longer, the lawyer says.

Apple, meanwhile, isn’t done with its objections. In addition to an earlier request for a stay on proceedings pending an appeal, it now contends that the court excluded or ignored testimony while giving Amazon and Google witnesses too much credibility. The company will present more of its opinion at a conference today with both the DOJ and the presiding judge, but we’re not expecting a quick resolution — neither side is budging at this stage.

Filed under: Internet, Software, Apple

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Via: CNET, GigaOM

Source: Letters to the court (1), (2), (3), (4)

Apple has blasted Department of Justice suggestions for how it should remedy the ebook price fixing issue, describing the fixes as a “draconian and punitive intrusion” into its business. The DoJ filed a list of remedies earlier today, including forcing Apple to allow rival ebook vendors such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble to include […]

Apple will fight the ebook price fixing ruling, the company has said today, promising to appeal the court’s decision and accusing Amazon of having a “monopolistic grip on the publishing industry.” The official statement follows a New York federal court ruling this morning that Apple colluded with five major publishers to force the ebook industry to the so-called “agency model” and, in the process, drive up prices – and margins – on ebook downloads for the iBookstore.

Apple, Justice Denise Cote wrote in a 160-page ruling on the case brought by the DOJ, “played a central role in facilitating and executing” a conspiracy to raise the cost of ebooks. Until Apple’s launch of the iBookstore, new releases had been around $9.99 on Amazon. After publishers made their push to the agency model, that rose to, on average, $14.99.

“Without Apple’s orchestration of this conspiracy, it would not have succeeded as it did in the Spring of 2010″ Justice Cote concluded.

However, unsurprisingly Apple is not willing to accept the court’s decision, and will fight the ruling in an appeal. “Apple did not conspire to fix ebook pricing and we will continue to fight against these false accusations” the company said in a statement. “When we introduced the iBookstore in 2010, we gave customers more choice, injecting much needed innovation and competition into the market, breaking Amazon’s monopolistic grip on the publishing industry.”

“We’ve done nothing wrong and we will appeal the judge’s decision” the spokesperson said.

With the initial case concluded, next up is a trial to settle on damages. There’s no indication as to what Apple might eventually be required to pay – both to the US government and to numerous states – though Penguin, which voluntarily settled (as did all the publishers involved) with the DOJ coughed up $75m including damages.

Amazon is yet to comment on the ruling, or indeed Apple’s portrayal of it as “monopolistic.”

Apple: We’ll appeal ebook price fix ruling is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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