Technology giant Apple Inc. “forcefully facilitated” a conspiracy with other publishing companies to fix the price of e-books and weaken Amazon’s influence over the market, a federal court judge has ruled.
In her decision last month in the closely watched case, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote cited the statements and records of officials from a number of publishing companies who said that Apple helped rally them to the cause of taking on Amazon and its comparatively low prices, with the intent of “altering the landscape” of the market. The judge also cited the statements of the late founder and CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, as having revealed the company’s motives in shaping the market.
Judge Cote said she found compelling evidence that Apple had encouraged other publishers to join with the company in taking on Amazon.
