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Apple Files Formal Complaint Over Monitor Fees in E-Book Antitrust Case

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Apr 12, 2001
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Back in July, Apple was found guilty of conspiring to raise the retail price of e-books, following a lawsuit brought by the United States Department of Justice.

As part of its punishment, Apple was ordered to hire an external compliance monitor to ensure that the company complies with all antitrust requirements in the future.

Michael Bromwich, a former U.S. Justice Department inspector general, was appointed to the position and is apparently charging exorbitant fees that Apple is unhappy with (via Bloomberg). The company has filed a formal objection against Bromwich, who has proposed an hourly fee of $1,100 along with a 15 percent administrative fee and an additional cost for hiring extra lawyers to assist him.
Mr. Bromwich has proposed an hourly rate for himself of $1,100. And because he lacks any antitrust experience, Mr. Bromwich has also retained the law firm Fried Frank to assist him, whose partner's hourly rate is $1,025. Mr. Bromwich has made no attempt to justify why his lack of any substantive experience with the matter at issue justifies hiring another law firm with a four-digit billing rate.
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Following two weeks of work, Bromwich sent Apple an invoice of $138,432, which Apple described as "unprecedented in Apple's experience." Apple has also filed other complaints against Bromwich, suggesting that he is overstepping his bounds by demanding interviews with Apple employees like CEO Tim Cook and lead designer Jony Ive.

In a letter to Tim Cook and Apple's board, Bromwich noted that he had experienced "a surprising and disappointing lack of cooperation from Apple and its executives" and suggested that Apple had no say in what it pays for external monitoring.
Our requests to meet with key Apple personnel have been largely ignored, and when not ignored the responses have been extremely slow in coming. The company has spent far more time challenging the terms of our compensation and raising other objections related to administrative matters, even though the Court's Order provided no role for Apple in setting the monitor's compensation.
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According to Apple, both Bromwich's suggested compensation and his attempts to contact Apple board members and senior executives directly are inappropriate, and the company asks that the court issue an order directing Bromwich to limit his monitorship.

Article Link: Apple Files Formal Complaint Over Monitor Fees in E-Book Antitrust Case
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/11/29/apple-files-formal-complaint-over-monitor-fees-in-e-book-antitrust-case/
D

DarkWinter

macrumors member
Feb 29, 2012
68
55
I'd like to hear the justification for requesting an interview with Ive given the subject matter.
 
philr5150

philr5150

macrumors regular
Nov 9, 2010
209
261
Omaha, NE
"As part of its punishment, Apple was ordered to hire an external compliance monitor to ensure that the company complies with all antitrust requirements in the future."

Is it anti-trust relating only to E-Books or anti-trust on anything? If it's anything that Apple produces, I can understand them wanting to talk to Ive, otherwise I don't see how he'd have anything to do with it.

What's the feeling of the community, do people think Apple really did try to hike prices unfairly?
 
B

brianbobcat

macrumors regular
Aug 13, 2003
165
14
Illinois
I don't have any history with antitrust cases, or have any legal knowledge. Hire me for a mere $500 an hour and I'll hire an "assistant" lawyer at $550 an hour. It's a win-win for everyone!!
 
GadgetDon

GadgetDon

macrumors 6502
May 11, 2002
316
259
First, the fact that he says he has no experience in anti-trust makes me wonder, WTF was he doing being placed in that position? Why not give the monitoring job to the guy he's hiring to actually DO HIS JOB.

Second, the guy has one area of authority. The Anti-trust behavior regarding the ebooks. The judge admitted that neither MFN nor agency model are inherently restraint of trade, so he can't use the idea of "but you use the agency model elsewhere" to expand his authority. John Ivy is involved in the design of the hardware and, most recently, the software. He has NOTHING to do with the agreements reached with content providers or suppliers or retailers or anyone.

Third, according to another article, not only is this guy insisting on interviewing top management at his leisure, he's insisting on interviewing them without any of Apple's lawyers present. Damn straight Tim Cook doesn't want an interview under those terms, he's got an IQ over 50 and he knows that's insane. This guy is also insisting on the ability to report to the judge without any representatives from Apple being present.
 
Parasprite

Parasprite

macrumors 68000
Mar 5, 2013
1,698
144
I'm wondering what this article would look like if it was written on an anti-Apple site. I'm not saying that it's biased, in fact I doubt it is. Just that there's something deeply...satirical about it...but I can't put my finger on what.

Am I still sleeping? :confused:
 
G

gatearray

macrumors 65816
Apr 24, 2010
1,130
232
MacRumors said:
...even though the Court's Order provided no role for Apple in setting the monitor's compensation.
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So why not charge $2,000 an hour? :)

These days, top lawyers in NYC seem to earn about $800/hr, so where does this guy get off billing $1,100? Oh that's right, he was appointed to this position by the judge who probably is a friend of his and Apple has deep pockets so he gets carte blanche with the bill.
 
R

robbyx

Suspended
Oct 18, 2005
1,152
1,128
Amerika at work. Punish the successful. Over regulate. And by all means, when you're part of the government, the new, untouchable political class, charge whatever you want for your middling skills.
 
ArtOfWarfare

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,558
6,058
I'd file an anti-trust suit against this guy - it's a monopoly when Apple is forced to use this guy rather than choose their own!
 
Jnesbitt82

Jnesbitt82

macrumors 6502
Oct 21, 2013
322
240
Ohio
Parasprite said:
I'm wondering what this article would look like if it was written on an anti-Apple site. I'm not saying that it's biased, in fact I doubt it is. Just that there's something deeply...satirical about it...but I can't put my finger on what.

Am I still sleeping? :confused:
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Don't worry, it's just the turkey in your system. My family is walking around like a bunch of zombies today. :)
 
K

kage207

macrumors 6502a
Jul 23, 2008
971
56
Brandon263 said:
The fees do seem a bit exorbitant, but I think the overall requirement is justified considering what Apple did with the publishers.
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So the money should go to the lawyers instead of the consumers harmed by Apple? That's a bit like saying you should be punished but only to the government and not the people.

On a side note, it's stupid that Apple executives have to meet with him. Most of them are engineers and meet with large groups daily as there is a lot lf oversight the executives have to do. It's silly, he should only monitor when the executives meet with book publishers.
 
C

ChrisA

macrumors G5
Jan 5, 2006
12,561
1,671
Redondo Beach, California
brianbobcat said:
I don't have any history with antitrust cases, or have any legal knowledge. Hire me for a mere $500 an hour and I'll hire an "assistant" lawyer at $550 an hour. It's a win-win for everyone!!
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Michael Bromwich was U.S. Justice Department inspector general. $1K/hr is what the top lawyers in the US charge. I'd bet Apple pays some of their own law firms this much.
 
Jimmy James

Jimmy James

macrumors 603
Oct 26, 2008
5,488
4,067
Magicland
Brandon263 said:
The fees do seem a bit exorbitant, but I think the overall requirement is justified considering what Apple did with the publishers.
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Yes, perhaps just a BIT. Over $200k/month (at fill time equivalent) for a guy who lacks directly relevant experience, to the point that he can't do the job unassisted.
 
firedept

firedept

macrumors 603
Jul 8, 2011
6,277
1,130
Somewhere!
Can someone mhelp me understand this correctly. I read two things here. It states Bromwich was appointed by the courts, but I also read that Apple was order to hire an external compliance monitor. Is this the same person or two different people? One by the courts and one by Apple?
 
CrickettGrrrl

CrickettGrrrl

macrumors 6502a
Feb 10, 2012
985
274
B'more or Less
"Michael Bromwich, a former U.S. Justice Department inspector general, was appointed to the position[...]"

Appointed to the position but sounds utterly flaky, seriously, this sounds so corrupt.
 
Kenn Marks

Kenn Marks

macrumors regular
Dec 22, 2005
118
0
It's Called Capitalism

fredaroony said:
lol the irony...Apple complaining about overcharging
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Apple is not selling 500,000 iPhone 5s' per day because it's overcharging. In capitalism, it has to do with supply and demand. No one is forcing all those people to pay Apple's price like Apple is being forced by the judicial system to pay.

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According to his Law Firm's Bio - Goodwin Proctor, it seems as if he has the qualifications to be the monitor. Now that he is a partner in the firm, he's not taking home all that billing revenue it's going into the corporate general fund and as in all law firms when it comes to bonuses it's tied to billing percentage.

http://www.goodwinprocter.com/People/B/Bromwich-Michael.aspx
 
F

fredaroony

macrumors 6502a
Aug 1, 2011
670
0
Kenn Marks said:
Apple is not selling 500,000 iPhone 5s' per day because it's overcharging. In capitalism, it has to do with supply and demand. No one is forcing all those people to pay Apple's price like Apple is being forced by the judicial system to pay.

----------

According to his Law Firm's Bio - Goodwin Proctor, it seems as if he has the qualifications to be the monitor. Now that he is a partner in the firm, he's not taking home all that billing revenue it's going into the corporate general fund and as in all law firms when it comes to bonuses it's tied to billing percentage.

http://www.goodwinprocter.com/People/B/Bromwich-Michael.aspx
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How many iPhone 5C's are they selling a day?
 
furi0usbee

furi0usbee

macrumors 68000
Jul 11, 2008
1,790
1,382
robbyx said:
Amerika at work. Punish the successful. Over regulate. And by all means, when you're part of the government, the new, untouchable political class, charge whatever you want for your middling skills.
Click to expand...

Ok Mark Levin. I hear ya loud and clear!
 
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