COLUMBUS: Ohio Attorney General Mike Dewine recently announced a proposed settlement of damages against Apple.inc for their involvement in the price fixing conspiracy in the e-books market. If the settlement agreement is approved by the U.S District Court for the Southern District of New York it will resolve claims for damages brought forward by Ohio and 32 other states.
Attorney General Dewine has emphasized the importance of challenging anti-competitive practices and the need to protect consumers from such practices. He suggests that the settlement seeks to provide relief to the consumers and e-book purchasers.
The amount consumers are to receive under the settlement is dependent upon the District Court’s decision for Apple’s appeal against the finding that the company violated antitrust laws and conspired with numerous publishers to raise e-book prices between 2010 and 2012. The appeal remains pending before the U.S Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Nationwide consumers are to receive $400 million in case the court’s ruling is affirmed. In case the appellate court is not able to reaffirm the court’s ruling and the ruling of Apple’s appeal is in their favor the settlement provides a significantly smaller recovery of $50 million.
Interestingly, the settlement combined with earlier settlements with the publishers will amount to twice the actual payable damages in case Apple is held liable and the appeal fails.
E-book purchasers all over the nation have received a total of $166 million in settlement funds paid by the following publishers which have been determined to be involved in the conspiracy: Penguin Group (USA), Inc. (now part of Penguin Random House); Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC d/b/a Macmillan; Hachette Book Group Inc.; Harper-Collins Publishers LLC; and Simon & Schuster Inc.
Notwithstanding the economic inefficiency or lack of cogency in the rationale for compensation these high amounts ought to fulfill the deterrent purpose of damages to say the least.
