Apple finds sympathetic judicial ears in e-book appeal

December 16, 2014

Apple's arguments in its appeal for the e-book antitrust case have found sympathetic judicial ears. After having lost the case under U.S. District Judge Denise Cote last year, Apple's appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York seems to be going well, with judges asking questions that seemingly favor Apple's position in the case.

Government lawyers accused Apple of conspiring with e-book publishers to drive the price of digital books up from $9.99 to $12.99 or as high as $14.99 in the case.

Favorable judges asked why Apple's practices were deemed anti-competitive, in a report by Re/Code:

In arguments before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, some judges appeared sympathetic to Apple's contention that it engaged in pro-competitive conduct when in 2010 it entered an e-books market largely dominated by Amazon. Amazon at the time had a 90 percent market share.

Circuit Judge Dennis Jacobs asked a Department of Justice lawyer why it was wrong for the publishers to get together to defeat a "monopolist" that was using "predatory pricing."

"It's like the mice getting together to put a bell on the cat," Jacobs said.

At stake in Apple's appeal is $450 million.

Source: Re/Code