Apple has received a new damages claim of $840 million for allegedly conspiring with companies to raise e-book pricing across the entire industry. This comes after Apple lost its e-book antitrust trail last summer, however Apple has yet to pay anything as a part of its punishment.
State attorney generals and consumers who have sued the company are seeking at least $280 million in damages and want that amount to be tripled, said a lawyer, on their behalf, in a filing yesterday with the federal judge in Manhattan.
The plaintiffs say they’re entitled to triple damages under antitrust law because the U.S. had already “conclusively proven” at a trial last year that Apple orchestrated a conspiracy to fix prices.
Apple first launched its e-book market place, the iBooks Store, alongside the unveiling of the original iPad in 2010. In 2012, sales of e-books, apps, movies, and music made up 8.2 percent, or $12.9 billion of Apple’s total revenue.
In July, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote concluded that Apple had orchestrated a scheme with publishers to increase the price of e-books. Cote also found Apple liable to 33 U.S. states. The Justice Department did not ask for any money damages in its case.
You can read the full filing from the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York here.
[via Bloomberg]
