Apple has officially filed its appeal in the ebook price-fixing case, according to a new report from GigaOM. The Cupertino company hopes to overturn Judge Denise Cote’s ‘guilty’ verdict handed down this summer.
On July 10, Judge Cote ruled that Apple conspired with 5 major book publishers to eliminate retail price competition in an effort to raise e-book prices. But the company, of course, flatly denies the allegations…
From GigaOM’s report:
“Thenotice of the appeal was filed with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals late Thursday, but I’m told Apple doesn’t have to submit the full text of the appeal until early 2014 when it lays out its arguments in appeals court.
It’s fair to assume, however, that Apple will bring up many of the same issues it raised in an August letter to Judge Cote, in which it outlined the arguments it planned to raise on appeal. For instance, it argued that the court excluded or disregarded crucial evidence from various witnesses, “disregarded serious credibility issues with the Google and Amazon witnesses” and excluded information about Amazon’s “internal business deliberations” from discovery.”
Additionally, Apple is appealing a September 6 injunction that prohibits it from including most-favored-nation clauses in ebook contracts for five years and requires it to be monitored by a court-appointed external monitor.
Book publisher Simon & Schuster has also filed for an appeal on the injunction, as it would mean that the company would not be able to negotiate new contracts with Apple for its iBooks platform for at least the next 3 years.
Simon & Schuster was one of the 5 publishers named in the original lawsuit—all of which settled with the DoJ instead of fighting the case alongside Apple. If found guilty, Apple could owe in upwards of $500 million in damages.