In a pre-trial hearing before the beginning of the scheduled June 3 ebook price-fixing case between the government and Apple, Judge Denise Cote reasserted in plain language what has been clear some of her rulings a year ago: She already thinks Apple is guilty. Cote said: “I believe that the government will be able to show at trial direct evidence that Apple knowingly participated in and facilitated a conspiracy to raise prices of e-books, and that the circumstantial evidence in this case, including the terms of the agreements, will confirm that.” Cote did indicate this was a “tentative view” based […]
DOJ
Last to Settle Pays the Most: Penguin Agrees to Pay Over $90 Million to Settle eBook Pricing Suits
Penguin’s hard-to-fathom delay in settling the state and class-action lawsuits over ebook pricing (after settling with the Department of Justice in December 2012) was down to the wire, with the company forced to join in the trial starting June 3. But on Wednesday, it was announced that the publisher has agreed to settle those remaining suits — paying a whopping $75 million in restitution to affected consumers. They are paying another $7 million to the states themselves in litigation and investigation costs, and the class action attorneys are finally getting paid as well, collecting $8 million from Penguin, plus additional […]
More From Court: Penguin Federal Settlement Is Approved
On Friday, Judge Denise Cote granted entry of final judgment, approving the federal government’s settlement with Penguin in their ebook pricing case. That increases the likelihood that Penguin will move to “agency lite” pricing of their ebooks sometime soon. But we don’t know that for sure. It took about two months after Macmillan settled and warned authors new prices could “take effect quickly” before there was any change in the marketplace. In fact, retailers could have moved to new arrangements with Penguin earlier in the year, and have not done so yet. The original settlement required Penguin to notify retailers of […]
Apple Presses to Make Public Documents “Potentially Embarrassing to Amazon”
Legally Apple is being sued by the government, but procedurally the company continues to act as if the real battle is with Amazon. As we reported last Friday, Apple’s proposed findings of fact filing indicates that Amazon sent a “White Paper” about agency ebook pricing to the Department of Justice of February 1, 2010 — days after the iBookstore was announced, and well before it actually opened for business. A letter from one of Apple’s attorneys posted to the court docket over the weekend reinforces their belief that “Amazon is no disinterested third party. Amazon was instrumental in launching this […]
Amazon Sent DOJ “White Paper” On Agency Days After iBookstore Launched
The documents keep coming in the lead up to the June 3 trial in the ebook pricing case. The latest include Apple’s “proposed findings of fact,” which lays out through Apple’s eyes the timetable of discussions and negotiations with publishers in December 2009 and January 2010 that led to the creation of the iBookstore — and the implementation of the agency model for ebooks. Many people have long suspected Amazon as a prime agitator in the cases brought against publishers and Apple, and the latest filing includes at least a smoking ember: Buried in paragraph 182 is an indication that Amazon […]
Preparing for Trial: New Documents and Details from the DOJ
The Department of Justice has organized and called attention to a raft of recently filed documents in connection with the pending June 3 trial in the ebook price fixing case, and the official court docket has still more documents — hundreds of pages worth — from Apple, Penguin, the States and more. As one preparatory document indicates, “the parties expect that the trial will last 3 to 4 weeks” (or 12 to 16 trial days). In the government’s new pretrial memorandum of law, their allegations and narrative has become more focused, and enriched with citations from the copious depositions of […]