Apple has been awarded a preliminary approval for its $450 million settlement bid in eBook case wherein it was claimed that Cupertino conspired with five publishers to inflate the prices of eBooks.
Denise Cote, the US District Judge in charge of the case, granted the appeal in a Manhattan court on Friday that will see the iPad maker settling the class-action with attorneys generals of 33 states.
The case dates back to 2010 when the US Department of Justice (DoJ) accused Apple and five publishers of colluding to artificially inflate the prices of eBooks and charging $12.99 or $14.99 for eBooks which were being sold for just $9.99 on Amazon.
The publishers settled with the DoJ over the period of three years, but Apple continued to battle stating that it wasn’t guilty. However, Cupertino was found guilty in 2013 wherein Cote ruled that Apple knew that the tactic was illegal, but continued anyways in a bid to capitalise on the popularity of its platform generated because of huge sales of its devices.
The preliminary approval means that Apple will have to pay $50 million in lawyer fees and $400 million to buyers. This will only happen if the Appeal’s court upholds Cote’s decision of approving the $450 million settlement. However, if the Appeal’s court decides to overturn the decision, Apple may get off easily by just paying $20 million in lawyers’ fees and $50 million to buyers.
The final hearing is slated for November 21 and if all goes according to Cote’s plan, the case will finally be sealed and mark an end to the four year long legal battle.
[Source: Reuters]
