In a letter to Judge Cote posted to the court docket on June 12, assistant attorney general for the State of Texas David Ashton responded to Apple’s request earlier in the week — one that mirrored our own — as to what, exactly, the states want out of the ongoing trial. Ashton said the states are “well aware the Court will decide only issues of liability and injunctive relief as part of the trial, and do not seek relief different than that sought from the Department of Justice.” Mostly they want a judgment that sets them up to seek money […]
Springer Decides on IPO; Pottermore Offers More
The longstanding efforts by private equity owners EQT and the Singaporean sovereign-wealth fund to sell Springer Science have taken yet another twist. They will walk away from BC Partners’ recent offer to buy the entire company for approximately €3.1 billion, and instead will go ahead with the long-contemplated IPO. The WSJ says that share offering “could value Springer Science at more than €3 billion, people familiar with the matter have said previously” — as well it should if they turned down that sum as a full buyout. They have been trying, since last fall, to get a valuation of closer […]
In Court: Cue Takes the Stand
Apple executive Eddy Cue took the stand Thursday morning to answer questions about his negotiations with the five settling publishers and offer his version of how Apple came to agency model and what they expected from publishers. (As an aside, Cue too came in court attire, rather than his standard jeans and casual shirt–to be honest, the grey suit and white shirt is a much better look than his standard “dress like Steve” uniform.) Government lawyer Lawrence Buterman immediately tried to challenge Cue’s assertions that he “learned for the first time about allegations of publisher meetings, phonecalls and dinners” only “after […]
From Court: Random House and Apple, In Documents
With the distinct possibility that no one from Random House will be put on the stand in the Apple ebook pricing trial, the documents depicting the publisher’s discussions of different business model possibilities with Apple could take on increasing importance. As Apple’s Keith Moerer testified on Tuesday, Random House was the one company he personally told that “Apple was willing to do an agency deal with Random House and that Random House was free to do business, including a wholesale model, without holdbacks with any other retailer that they might choose to do so.” Here are some of the key […]
People, Etc.
Jeff Tegge has joined Legato Publishers Group, the recently announced new distribution affiliate of Publishers Group West headed by former IPG chief Mark Suchomel, as vp, sales. Legge was formerly a colleague of Suchomel’s at IPG, where he also had the title of vp, sales. Christina Quintero has joined Little, Brown Books for Young Readers as art director for licensing. Previously she was associate art director at Grosset & Dunlap/Price Stern Sloan. The Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize is a newly launched award for the best scholarly book in military history. The prize, worth $50,000 will be awarded beginning in February 2014. The ABA announced […]
Jobs v. Jobs: Two Versions of the Same Mail
A small number of communications from Apple’s late ceo Steve Jobs have taken on great import in the ebook pricing trial, in part because Jobs cannot testify to what he meant. As we reported, on Tuesday the government showed a January 14, 2010 reply to Eddy Cue that “was draft by Mr. Jobs,” as the government attorney put it. Regarding increased tiers with “pricing I think will push them to very edge and still have a credible offering in the market,” as Cue put it, the Jobs document reads: “I can live with this, as long as they move Amazon […]