Skip to main content

Apple filing claims that the DOJ's ebook lawsuit 'sides with monopoly, rather than competition'

Apple filing claims that the DOJ's ebook lawsuit 'sides with monopoly, rather than competition'

/

Just as it did in public statements, Apple's taking a strong stance in its defense against alleged price-fixing actions in concert with major ebook publishers. In US District Court filing yesterday, Apple claimed that "the Government's Complaint against Apple is fundamentally flawed as a matter of fact and law."

Share this story

ipad ibookstore
ipad ibookstore

Just as it did in public statements, Apple's taking a strong stance in its defense against alleged price-fixing actions in concert with major ebook publishers. In US District Court filing yesterday, Apple claimed that "the Government's Complaint against Apple is fundamentally flawed as a matter of fact and law," going on to say that "Apple has not 'conspired' with anyone, was not aware of any alleged 'conspiracy' by others, and never 'fixed prices.'" Apple even acusses the government of "[siding] with monopoly, rather than competition."

All in all, it's quite the strenuous defense. Unsurprisingly, Apple claims its entry into the eBook market "spurred tremendous growth in eBook titles, range and variety of offerings, sales, and improved quality of the eBook reading experience," and says that lawsuit ignores these "inconvenient facts." As Apple tells it, the company rode in on a white horse to save the ebook industry, saying that the iBookstore "benefitted consumers" and "brought competition where none existed."

The company continues to push the issue back onto publishers, noting that "nothing Apple did reduced competition or fixed prices. As an agent, Apple did not set prices. Nor did Apple have an interest in higher prices for eBooks." Of course, Apple had its "most favored nation" clauses that requires publishers to match iBookstore prices with the lowest prices from other competitors, even where they didn't set the prices. This guaranteed that Apple would continue to have competitive pricing while still collecting its now-standard 30 percent commission on all digital goods it sells.

Apple ends its introductory statements by saying that its entry into the ebook market "is classic procompetitive conduct, and for Apple to be subject to hindsight legal attack for a business strategy well-recognized as perfectly proper sends the wrong message to the market, and will discourage competitive entry and innovation and harm consumers." This all comes in just the first two and a half pages of the 31-page document — the rest goes through the DOJ's complaint paragraph by paragraph, admitting and denying claims the various claims. If it wasn't already clear, Apple isn't planning on going down without a fight, unlike several of the publishers named in the suit.