The U.S. Department of Justice has published its proposed remedies to address Apple's price fixing as a result of its case against Apple. The “Remedy Would Require Apple to Terminate Agreements with Five Publishers; Provide for a Court-Appointed External Monitor; Allow Competitors to Provide Links from Their E-Book Apps to Their E-Bookstores.”
The U.S. DOJ office of public affairs posted this item on Aug 2. “ 'The court found that Apple’s illegal conduct deprived consumers of the benefits of e-book price competition and forced them to pay substantially higher prices,' said Bill Baer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division. 'Under the department’s proposed order, Apple’s illegal conduct will cease and Apple and its senior executives will be prevented from conspiring to thwart competition in the future.' ”
Proposed remedies, if approved by the court, will:
Require Apple to terminate its existing agreements with the five major publishers with which it conspired – Hachette Book Group (USA), HarperCollins Publishers L.L.C., Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC, which does business as Macmillan, Penguin Group (USA) Inc. and Simon & Schuster Inc.
Require Apple to refrain for five years from entering new e-book distribution contracts which would restrain Apple from competing on price.
Apple will be prohibited from again serving as a conduit of information among the conspiring publishers or from retaliating against publishers for refusing to sell e-books on agency terms.
Apple will also be prohibited from entering into agreements with suppliers of e-books, music, movies, television shows or other content that are likely to increase the prices at which Apple’s competitor retailers may sell that content.
To reset competition to the conditions that existed before the conspiracy, Apple must also for two years allow other e-book retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble to provide links from their e-book apps to their e-bookstores, allowing consumers who purchase and read e-books on their iPads and iPhones easily to compare Apple’s prices with those of its competitors.”
Finally, the DOJ noted that: “The court issued its opinion that Apple Inc. violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act on July 10, 2013. The court will hold a hearing on remedies on Aug. 9, 2013.”
Apple intends to appeal the decision.