Tuesday, August 06, 2013

DOJ Proposes Enforcement Guidelines in Apple Case

Shelf Awareness

On Friday, the Department of Justice proposed guidelines for Apple in the e-book agency model collusion case that, as the New York Times wrote, "would put rules in place to prevent Apple from facilitating price-fixing among publishers, or from retaliating against publishers that refuse to bend to its terms. The Justice Department also suggested that Apple allow Amazon and Barnes & Noble to insert links inside their e-book apps to their e-bookstores."

In response, Apple's legal counsel filed a statement calling the government's proposal a "draconian and punitive intrusion" into its business. Apple's lawyer, Orin Snyder, noted that the "overreaching proposal would establish a vague new compliance regime--applicable only to Apple--with intrusive oversight lasting for 10 years, going far beyond the legal issues in this case, injuring competition and consumers, and violating basic principles of fairness and due process. The resulting cost of this relief--not only in dollars but also lost opportunities for American businesses and consumers--would be vast."

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