After failing to remove its court-appointed antitrust monitor, Apple urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit this week to reverse the e-books price-fixing judgment that led to the monitorship in the first place. Meanwhile, things are heating up in parallel suits brought on behalf of consumers, with Apple trying to move the cases out New York federal court.
In an opening appellate brief filed Tuesday at the Second Circuit, Apple urged the court to reverse U.S. District Judge Denise Cote’s July 2013 ruling that the company fixed e-book prices. Apple argues that Cote based her ruling on a flawed theory of antitrust liability—namely, that Apple joined a preexisting price-fixing conspiracy among book publishers in 2009 and furthered it by orchestrating an industry-wide shift to a retail model that raised prices.
