Apple appeals e-book pricing case
This past summer, Judge Denise Cote ruled that Apple had colluded with a range of publishing companies in an effort to raise the price of e-books. Now comes word that Apple has filed a motion appealing the ruling. The appeal was filed on Thursday, but formal arguments on the matter may be submitted as late as early 2014.
It's fair to assume, however, that Apple will bring up many of the same issues it raised in an August letter to Judge Cote, in which it outlined the arguments it planned to raise on appeal. For instance, it argued that the court excluded or disregarded crucial evidence from various witnesses, "disregarded serious credibility issues with the Google and Amazon witnesses" and excluded information about Amazon's "internal business deliberations" from discovery.
Notably, Apple could have settled the case with the DOJ and avoided a trial altogether. Apple, however, chose to go to trial, re-affirming time and time again that they did nothing wrong and refusing to settle on principle.
That Apple is appealing the ruling isn't surprising. In the wake of Cote's ruling, Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr issued the following statement:
Apple did not conspire to fix e-book pricing and we will continue to fight against these false accusations. When we introduced the iBookstore in 2010, we gave customers more choice, injecting much-needed innovation and competition into the market, breaking Amazon's monopolistic grip on the publishing industry. We've done nothing wrong and we will appeal the judge's decision.
Regarding the credibility of a Google executive who testified during the trial, you can read more about that here via The Verge.
