A New York judge has ruled that Apple conspired with major publishers to raise electronic book prices higher than they otherwise should have been.
Federal Court Judge Denise Cote rejected the argument presented by Apple's lawyer Orin Snyder that a guilty verdict would set a "dangerous precedent." The judge concluded the company had indeed conspired with a half-dozen book publishers when it got into the e-book market in 2010.
Among the accusations brought forth by the Department of Justice were that Apple's behaviour directly led to the end of Amazon.com's policy of selling e-books for $9.99.
"Apple did not want to compete with Amazon (or any other e-book retailer) on price," the ruling reads. "And the publisher defendants wanted to end Amazon’s $9.99 pricing and increase significantly the prevailing price point for e-books."
"With a full appreciation of each other’s interests, Apple and the publisher defendants agreed to work together to eliminate retail price competition in the e-book market and raise the price of e-books above $9.99," the judge wrote.
Read more: Apple guilty of e-books price fixing - Business - CBC News
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