DOJ Says Apple No Longer Needs Antitrust Monitor

The U.S. Department of Justice is satisfied with reforms put in place by Apple to comply with antitrust laws and says it no longer requires a monitor to oversee its sales of eBooks, reports Bloomberg. The monitor was put in place after Apple was found guilty of conspiring with publishers to fix eBook prices.

The government on Monday recommended that the monitoring not be extended. In a letter to the Manhattan federal judge who found in 2013 that Apple illegally conspired with publishers to set e-book prices, the U.S. said Apple has “now implemented meaningful antitrust policies, procedures, and training programs that were obviously lacking at the time Apple participated in and facilitated the horizontal price-fixing conspiracy found by this court.”

The Justice Department said Apple “never embraced a cooperative working relationship with the monitor.” Apple said its relationship with the monitor was “rocky at times” but maintained that it had been cooperative. “Over the past two years, Apple has developed and implemented a comprehensive, engaging, and effective antitrust compliance program,” the company said.


Apple tried to challenge the appointment of Michael Bromwich as a monitor in May saying that he had overstepped his role. A judge found that some of Bromwich's actions gave pause but did not disqualify the monitor.

Notably, Apple plans to ask the United States Supreme Court to overturn the that it conspired to fix prices of ebooks. The company says the case presents issues of 'surpassing importance to the United States economy.'

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