Apple fought the law and lost.
A federal judge ruled against the tech titan today in the antitrust trial over whether Apple fixed the price of e-books.
US District Judge Denise Cote said the Justice Department showed that Apple conspired with publishers to raise retail prices and that the company “played a central role in facilitating and executing that conspiracy.”
Apple is on the hook for damages, which the judge said will be determined at a separate trial.
Cote said her decision won’t have “chilling affects” on the wider business community, refuting an argument furthered by Apple’s legal team.
The government alleged that Apple in 2010, in conjunction with the release of the iPad, conspired with five publishers to raise the price of e-books from the $9.99 price Amazon charged for most recent releases to $12.99-to-$14.99.
The DOJ argued that Apple’s entry into the e-book market effectively forced Amazon into different agreements with publishers, which made it hard for it to continue to offer the lowest price.
The publishers settled with the government but Apple chose to go to court, leading to a three-week trial in June.
“Apple did not conspire to fix e-book pricing and we will continue to fight against these false accusations,” Apple said in a statement. “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.”
catkinson@nypost.com