Apple ebooks damages trial to start July 14 after appeals court refuses delay


Gigaom

An appeals court this week refused to halt a trial that could require Apple(s aapl) to pay hundreds of millions of dollars over price-fixing, even as the company continues to deny any wrong-doing and seeks an appeal.

In a succinct order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said a trial can go forward on July 14 that will determine how much Apple should pay for brokering a conspiracy with book publishers to fix the price of ebooks.

In April, class action lawyer Steve Berman said, “Consumers could see a judgment of between $750 to $850 million,” as punishment related to Justice Denise Cote’s conclusion last year that Apple organized the scheme.

The five publishers who participated in the conspiracy have already settled, resulting in consumers receiving emails telling them of credits paid to their Kindle(s amzn) and Barnes &  Nobel accounts. This week’s appeals court ruling means that those consumers are likely to receive emails notifying…

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Apple stuck with antitrust monitor after appeals court refuses removal request


Gigaom

A federal appeals court has refused to stay an order that imposes an antitrust monitor on Apple, despite the company’s complaints that the monitor has been conducting an illegal roving investigation.

In a ruling published on Monday, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals wrote that the dispute came down to a disagreement over what the monitor was empowered to do, and adopted the Justice Department’s position that the monitor was limited to verifying whether Apple was informing its employees about their duty to comply with an anti-trust order from last year.

The original order imposing the monitor came as part of a larger decision last year in which a New York federal judge concluded that Apple had violated antitrust laws by brokering an illegal conspiracy with publishers to fix the price of ebooks.

Apple, which is appealing the overall decision, has accused the monitor, Michael Bromwich, of starting his duties…

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