At the on-going trial into price fixing, Lawrence Buterman alleged that a rise in e-book prices after the launch of the iPad in 2010 was the result of a deliberate scheme, reports the BBC.
Apple’s lawyers have turned away the claims, labelling them as ‘bizarre’.
Settlements
Gibson Dunn partner Orin Snyder said that the government’s linking of price rises to Apple deals amounted to ‘reverse engineering a conspiracy’.
The case centres on Apple’s encouragement to publishers to set the price of their e-books instead of letting retailers make pricing decisions. Prosecutors allege this deal was aimed to combat the lower prices that online retailer Amazon was able to offer.
Five publishers have already reached settlements over the case.
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