Legal

It’s no Bob Kohn-style graphic novel, but the Department of Justice has posted (as a PDF) the 80 slides that framed their opening argument Monday in the ebook price fixing trial. There is little evidence that has not already been presented by the government in their pre-trial filings, and while the visual presentation will call-outs of key quotes and date-stamps for various communications is meant to visualize the chronicle of circumstantial collusion, it’s hardly crystal clear. In some places, even, a look at the fine print on documents shown in slides rather than the big called-out text shows evidence at […]

After well over a year of depositions, documents, argument-trading, and settlements with five publishers, the Department of Justice’s trial against Apple on ebook price fixing finally got underway Monday morning at the Federal courthouse in downtown Manhattan (the majority of journalists, yours truly included, witnessed the proceedings in an overflow room where the sound was frustratingly intermittent, and only fixed before the end of the morning recess.) After some lingering pre-trial motions concerning the redaction status of certain documents, DOJ lawyer Lawrence Buterman presented the government’s case against Apple in opening arguments. Most of what he covered was in line with […]

It is suddenly the obvious question of the moment, as the ebook pricing trial in the United States v. Apple began today at 9:30 — particularly since presiding Judge Denise Cote has already expressed her “tentative view” 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.” (Even absent that bar, antitrust attorneys indicate the government is the natural favorite in any trial like this one, and particularly so given that all five publisher defendants have already settled.) Assuming for speculative purposes that the […]

Apple ceo Tim Cook addressed the ebook lawsuits briefly in a long interview on Tuesday as part of the D11 conference. By his account, the government is requiring that Apple admit guilt as part of any settlement, even though none of the settling publishers did so (and in fact, out of court, they have all continued to proclaim their innocence). Cook said, “The e-book case is bizarre. We’re not going to sign a settlement that says we did something we didn’t do. So we’re going to fight.” The trial is scheduled to begin June 3. As we noted previously, Judge […]

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 […]