After closing arguments, Apple's fate in e-book antitrust case goes to judge
“Word games,” an “overreaching narrative” and a “case of inferences” were a few choice phrases used by attorney Orin Snyder Thursday in closing arguments for Apple in the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust, ebooks price fixing case against the tech giant.
The DOJ brought the case against Apple and five of the largest book publishers in the U.S. for allegedly conspiring to limit price competition and raise prices in the ebook market in 2010 in an effort to stop Amazon from pricing their best-selling electronic books at $9.99 each.
Both the DOJ and Apple are making their closing arguments Thursday before Judge Denise Cote, who will decide the outcome of the antitrust suit. The five large publishers also named in the DOJ suit have already settled for a cumulative $164 million, leaving Apple to defend its practices in court. Cote presided over the three-week, non-jury trial in the U.S. Southern District Court of New York in Manhattan.
Apple makes it case
For Apple’s summation, Snyder characterized the interactions that Apple had with the five publishers as typical conversations and negotiations that accompany any business agreement. At no point did Apple try to coordinate the activities of the publishers in an attempt to fix the prices of electronic books for the market. “The evidence does not show this,” Snyder told the court, arguing that the DOJ made this case solely on “overreaching” interpretation of electronic documents.
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