DOJ vs. Apple E-Book Pricing Trial Starts Today, DOJ Posts Its Case Online

The Department of Justice has posted its 81 page presentation accusing Apple of conspiring with publishers to raise e-Book prices.

AllThingsD reports that in the trial's opening arguments this morning, DOJ attorney Lawrence Buterman offered up a plethora of email and phone evidence that allegedly shows how Apple rallied support for its pricing modal just prior to the iPad's unveiling.

“Apple’s conduct cannot be excused,” Buterman said. “Consumers in this country paid hundreds of millions of dollars more for e-books than they would have.”


Despite all of the accused publishers having settled with the DOJ, Apple says it has done no wrong.

"The e-book case to me is bizarre," Apple CEO Tim Cook said. "We’ve done nothing wrong there, and so we’re taking a very principled position. … We’re not going to sign something that says we did something we didn’t do. … So we’re going to fight."

US District Judge Denise Cote has already tentatively sided with the DOJ and in today's opening arguments, Apple questioned whether it would have a fair trial, reports The Verge.

Orin Snyder, an Apple lawyer, brought up the comments gently. He said the judge's "tentative view" wasn't "great for [his] client" and he asked Cote to scrub any prior opinions so that Apple receives justice. He prepared to move on when Cote stopped him and — just as gently — tried to reassure him that Apple will be treated fairly. She noted that her policy of reviewing the evidence during the pretrial phase was designed to speed up the case, a strategy that Apple agreed to. She told Snyder that she had only seen some of the evidence and would reserve judgment until she heard it all. She said that "this isn't a vote about whether I like Apple ... the deck isn't stacked against Apple unless the evidence stacks against Apple."


You can check out the DOJ's presentation against Apple here!

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