“Apple Inc urged a U.S. appeals court to throw out a judge’s ‘radical’ finding that it violated antitrust law by manipulating electronic book prices, and blamed publishers for running a conspiracy it claimed to know nothing about,” Jonathan Stempel reports for Reuters.
“The request on Tuesday night came after U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in New York concluded last July after a nonjury trial that Apple had played a ‘central role’ in illegally scheming as early as December 2009 with five publishers to raise e-book prices and impede competitors such as Amazon.com Inc.,” Stempel reports. “In a filing with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, Apple said it ‘had no knowledge that the publishers were engaged in a conspiracy’ at any time.”
“It said it lawfully took advantage of market “discord” and the publishers’ own frustrations with Amazon, and ‘kick-started competition in a highly concentrated market, delivering higher output, lower price levels, and accelerated innovation,'” Stempel reports. “Cote’s decision ‘is a radical departure from modern antitrust law,’ Apple said. ‘If allowed to stand, the ruling will stifle innovation, chill competition, and harm consumers.’ The Cupertino, California-based company asked the 2nd Circuit to reverse Cote’s decision or else give it a new trial before a different judge.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: There was simply no proof that Apple had played a “central role” in any “conspiracy.” U.S. Federal Puppet Denise Cote’s ruling is based upon fantasy, delusion, incompetency, and/or something else other than fact.
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