 The court's opinion explained that Apple coordinated with the publishers to
drive up the price of e-books above Amazon's $9.99 price point, beginning in
2010 when Apple unveiled its first e-book reader, the iPad. According to the
opinion, Apple "played a central role" because it "promised each Publisher
Defendant that it was getting identical terms" from Apple and that Apple "would
only move forward if a critical mass of the major publishing houses agreed to
its agency terms." Because of Apple, the publishers were able to act in concert
to raise market prices to $12.99 or higher for e-book offerings."When
companies fix their costs, customers pay the ultimate price," Madigan said. "By
colluding to fix the price of e-books, Apple and the publishers forced book
buyers to pay millions more for e-books than they otherwise would have.
Enforcing the state's antitrust laws will ensure that people who purchased these
items receive the full benefit of competitive pricing and choice in the
marketplace."
The court's opinion comes after a three-week bench trial before Judge Denise
Cote. The trial did not address the issue of damages, but the court found that
the conspiracy raised e-book prices by 18.6 percent across all of the publisher
defendants' e-books. The 33 states and territories involved in the case,
including Illinois, will seek to recover damages from Apple in a second trial to
determine how much Apple should pay for its role in overcharging consumers.
[to top of second column] |
The publishers -- Hachette Book Group Inc., HarperCollins Publishers
LLC, Simon & Schuster Inc., Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC d/b/a
Macmillan, and Penguin Group (USA), Inc. -- settled before trial.
Under the settlements, the publishers agreed to pay consumers
nationwide more than $166 million.
Bureau Chief Robert Pratt and Assistant Attorney General Chadwick
Brooker handled these cases for Attorney General Madigan's Antitrust
Bureau.
[Text from file received from the office
of
Illinois Attorney General Lisa
Madigan]
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