The U.S. Supreme Court has decided against hearing Apple’s appeal of a court case regarding ebook pricing that will see the tech giant forced to pay out a $450 million settlement. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New York, decided against Apple in the Department of Justice’s favor June 2015.
BREAKING: Supreme Court declines to hear Apple's appeal of lower court decision it conspired on e-book prices
— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) March 7, 2016
Apple’s ebook legal saga began in 2012, when the Department of Justice accused Apple of working behind the scenes to raise ebook prices as a way to compete with Amazon’s Kindle store.
The Department of Justice alleged that Apple conspired with publishers to raise prices of ebooks online. According to Reuters, Apple’s “scheme caused some e-book prices to rise to $12.99 or $14.99 from the $9.99 price previously charged by market leader Amazon.com Inc.”
Five of the publishers involved in the conspiracy — HarperCollins, Penguin, Macmillan, Hachette and Simon & Schuster — had previously reached a settlement with the Department of Justice that saw each publisher terminating their agreements with ebook retailers. The renegotiated distribution agreements now allow ebook retailers to compete pricing-wise.
The $450 million settlement will be payable to customers who were forced to pay a higher price for an ebook as a result of Apple’s actions.
