Judge Rules Apple Violated Antitrust Laws

Southern District Judge Denise Cote ruled this morning that Apple violated antitrust laws when it orchestrated a conspiracy to fix e-book prices with major publishers Penguin, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan and Simon & Schuster, the National Law Journal reports. Cotes's ruling came in an action brought by the U.S. Justice Department's Antitrust Division and State of Texas v. Penguin Group (USA), brought by 33 states and U.S. territories. In a statement, Assistant Attorney General William Baer called the decision "a victory for millions of consumers who choose to read books electronically."