“Re/code” (http://tinyurl.com/lbdcqq5) reports that Apple has reached an agreement to settle a civil class action suit related to e-book pricing, according to court documents filed on Monday.
Apple faced as much as US$840 million in state and consumer antitrust claims related to ebook deals with publishers that led to a U.S. lawsuit and court-ordered monitor. In April 2012 the United States Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, Hachette SA, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster in New York district court, claiming collusion over ebook pricing.
No details are yet available as to the terms of the settlement. Although the parties have come to some sort of agreement, Apple is still appealing the court’s ruling from last year that Apple was liable for violating both federal and state antitrust rules; the letter to the court says “any payment to be made by Apple under the settlement agreement will be contingent on the outcome of that appeal,” notes “Re/code.”