Apple violated antitrust laws when it made a deal with publishers that subsequently raised the prices of e-books in the market, bringing its number one contender Amazon in the brink of loss.

According to the Federal Appeals Court  Panel, a ruling of 2-1 found Apple guilty of violating the antitrust law against Amazon and has ordered the court to make sure that Apple is not in any other form embroiled in other antitrust laws. While Apple Inc. reportedly denied the allegations, saying, they did not plot anything to raise the price of e-books, they still plan to take the next step to clear their case.

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Judge Denise Cote, on the other hand, ordered Apple to revise the giant company's agreement with publishers in order to avert allegations of price fixing, subsequently appointing an examiner to go through Apple's case.

According to The Oregonian, Judge Raymond J. Lohier Jr. believes that the publishers may have more roles in the price fixing, setting allegations that they used the giant company Apple as a "powerful leverage against Amazon." If in any case, Apple fails to win the lawsuit, they are bound to release $400 million, which they agreed to be distributed to its consumers and a $50 million attorney's fees. The said amount has been agreed on with Apple.

According to the Huffington Post, the publishers and Apple company tried to imply that Amazon is monopolizing the sale of e-book at a very cheap price. The Justice department is appalled by how consumers failed to see the discrepancy, allowing Apple to deal with price fixing on several big publishers, specifically 5 out of the 6 notable book publishers in the United States. The conspiracy between Apple and book publishers were greatly contested, but evidences points to a different direction.

Publishers embroiled in the lawsuit include MacMillian, The Penguin Group, Simon and Schuster, Hatchet and Harper Collins. The Justice Department also laid out several evidences, including phone calls and "fancy lunches" in their 36 page complaint against Apple. The high profile case of conspiracy between giant publishers and Apple will also instigate further vigilance in other parts of e-commerce.

Tagsebook, anti-trust law, apple complaints, apple company