The U.S. Justice Department said it’s satisfied that Apple has implemented reforms to comply with antitrust laws even though it fought with a monitor appointed to oversee its sale of electronic books, reports Bloomberg (http://tinyurl.com/nv42dp7).
The government has recommended that the monitoring not be extended. In a letter to the Manhattan federal judge who found in 2013 that Apple illegally conspired with publishers to set e-book prices, the U.S. said Apple has “now implemented meaningful antitrust policies, procedures, and training programs that were obviously lacking at the time Apple participated in and facilitated the horizontal price-fixing conspiracy found by this court.”
The Justice Department said Apple “never embraced a cooperative working relationship with the monitor.” Apple acknowledged its relationship with the monitor was “rocky at times,” but disagreed that it wasn’t willing to cooperate.
Bloomberg reports that Apple said in Monday’s joint letter to U.S. District Judge Denise Cote that it’s committed to fulfilling its obligations, including training, antitrust risk assessment and audits.