Apple Wins Brief Stay of External Monitoring in E-Books Antitrust Case

It is about time for the tide to turn on this case!

It's a conflict of interest for the judge to hire an unqualified friend.

PBUser167 said:

It is about time for the tide to turn on this case!

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Well, you'll note it was out of Cote's hands at this point. Everything up to this point has been all Judge Cote. Who, really, is on the defensive, though thats not how many news media's present it.

Her conduct and link to Bromwich is a very big deal and has the potential of pulling her from the bench.

I honestly don't think Apple would have kept pushing unless they thought they had something to that effect. They just needed to hold out long enough to get it into the Appeals Court. I often wonder if thats what Cote meant when she "supposedly" told Bromwich to hurry up and get in there, that he wouldn't have much time.

Anyway, we'll see I guess. All bets are off at this point I think. Depends on what kind of hand Apple really has.. we should now in the next few weeks/months.

Now the real pop-corn, head turning, begins. I want extra butter on mine.

Finally– A sane decision from the court. I won't hold my breath for the next one.

t.gillespie said:

Well, you'll note it was out of Cote's hands at this point. Everything up to this point has been all Judge Cote. Who, really, is on the defensive, though thats not how many news media's present it.

Her conduct and link to Bromwich is a very big deal and has the potential of pulling her from the bench.

I honestly don't think Apple would have kept pushing unless they thought they had something to that effect. They just needed to hold out long enough to get it into the Appeals Court. I often wonder if thats what Cote meant when she "supposedly" told Bromwich to hurry up and get in there, that he wouldn't have much time.

Anyway, we'll see I guess. All bets are off at this point I think. Depends on what kind of hand Apple really has.. we should now in the next few weeks/months.

Now the real pop-corn, head turning, begins. I want extra butter on mine.

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I completely agree that it being out of her hands is why the tide has turned. It was such a sham on all accounts and the monitoring stuff has been a fiasco. Hopefully we see more sanity injected into this process as we move forward.

In the end... I still hope Apple gets fined "One million dollars muhahahaha".

"Dr Evil, one million dollars isn't a lot of money these days".

So, what, Bromwich just sits in a hotel for a while?

JAT said:

So, what, Bromwich just sits in a hotel for a while?

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If nothing else, he cannot bill Apple $1100 an hour for the remainder of this week.

This is a good decision. It is clearly a conflict to put someone who has no antitrust experience into a position of overseeing such a large decision by the courts. Especially a friend of the judge who handed down that decision.

I really never understood why Apple was guilty of price fixing. And this whole business with this guy is really beyond me. I do hope that in appeals things get sorted out better. The idea of going back to Amazon setting the price for books just does not sound right (I know that is not exactly what was decided, but in essence the judge said that Apple was guilty of colluding in breaking the Amazon model and that in doing so that was a bad thing).

Cuban Missles said:

I really never understood why Apple was guilty of price fixing. And this whole business with this guy is really beyond me. I do hope that in appeals things get sorted out better. The idea of going back to Amazon setting the price for books just does not sound right (I know that is not exactly what was decided, but in essence the judge said that Apple was guilty of colluding in breaking the Amazon model and that in doing so that was a bad thing).

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I think a digital book can be worth more than a printed one. It won't age or get damaged and it can have possibly audio and animated Illustrations. A book can come to like and give depth.

I can't say if Apple was right or wrong but I do know that a judge appointing an unqualified friend is unethical and enough to discredit a judge. The ruling should be thrown out.

Cuban Missles said:

I really never understood why Apple was guilty of price fixing. And this whole business with this guy is really beyond me. I do hope that in appeals things get sorted out better. The idea of going back to Amazon setting the price for books just does not sound right (I know that is not exactly what was decided, but in essence the judge said that Apple was guilty of colluding in breaking the Amazon model and that in doing so that was a bad thing).

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As a book publisher, I wholeheartedly agree with you. Rather than focus only on Apple, the court needs to look at the bigger picture and delve into Amazon's ebook pricing tactics as well.

If someone is guilty of price fixing, it's Amazon. They had set the price artificially low in an attempt to kill the competitors, control the market, and inadvertently harm publishers. I'm not for higher prices, but the market should determine those prices, not one seller. What Apple did was get together with publishers and said, 'hey, why don't you set the price of the book and if no one buys it, you'll have to lower prices'. This is how the economy is supposed to work. The government, and many citizens, only care when price fixing raises prices. Keeping a price artificially low hurts the very businesses whose product you want. While it may not hurt the big authors, it can really hurt smaller authors and prevent new authors from ever getting published. The publishers get the prophet but they also assume all the risk.

Consultant said:

It's a conflict of interest for the judge to hire an unqualified friend.

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Biased comments before trial started (and apparently not the first time she has done that regarding apple) as well

I remember seeing the coverage of the whole thing and then noticing that her opinion seemed to ignore all testimony that supported that the DOJ timeline was wrong.

Happy to see the courts giving this a needed review.

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t.gillespie said:

I honestly don't think Apple would have kept pushing unless they thought they had something to that effect.

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Yes they are appealing the whole thing but right now I suspect they want a leash on this guy. Control who he talks to and how (ie no demanding disruptions to work, no denying a lawyer), and the fees. If he wants to consult with a lawyer fine. But bringing in a huge team and sticking Apple with the bill, not cool

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japanime said:

As a book publisher, I wholeheartedly agree with you. Rather than focus only on Apple, the court needs to look at the bigger picture and delve into Amazon's ebook pricing tactics as well.

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I'll back that. All forms of media could do with some limits across the board. Dump the ability to have exclusive deals that keep items on only one service for long periods, set upper price limits so we are paying $50 for a digital version that is half the quality and no features on something that sells on disk for $30 etc.

But the key is rules for all players

rmatthewware said:

What Apple did was get together with publishers and said, 'hey, why don't you set the price of the book and if no one buys it, you'll have to lower prices'.

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Erm..yeah and that's illegal champ...

fredaroony said:

Erm..yeah and that's illegal champ...

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Which is no problem, because it's also not what happened.

I for one certainly hope that Apple will be at least partially successful with their appeal of the original decision, as their punishment seemed heavy-handed, and way out of proportion to the "crime" committed.

Removing the unqualified and excessively expensive Bromwich from his position as monitor would be a good first step.

rmatthewware said:

What Apple did was get together with publishers and said, 'hey, why don't you set the price of the book and if no one buys it, you'll have to lower prices'. This is how the economy is supposed to work.

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What do you call an economy where companies collude to set the price of products? Doesn't sound like capitalism. They should be competing with each other.

fredaroony said:

Erm..yeah and that's illegal champ...

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In what way do you consider that illegal? It appears to me to be a description of agency pricing which Judge Cote confirmed as a legal.

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unlinked said:

What do you call an economy where companies collude to set the price of products? Doesn't sound like capitalism. They should be competing with each other.

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The publishers didn't collude to set the price of products. In fact they all offered different products at different prices.

BaldiMac said:

The publishers didn't collude to set the price of products. In fact they all offered different products at different prices.

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It would be rare that two book publishers (or two record companies for that matter) can offer the same product.

unlinked said:

What do you call an economy where companies collude to set the price of products? Doesn't sound like capitalism. They should be competing with each other.

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Apple didn't attempt to raise prices. What they did was come up with a system that allowed publishers to set their own prices rather than be held hostage by Amazon.

Keeping prices artificially low can be as bad or worse than keeping them high. Look at what happened in Venezuela when they tried it.

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fredaroony said:

Erm..yeah and that's illegal champ...

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What they did wasn't illegal. They didn't set a price or try to keep a price high. Nothing they did was to raise a price. Higher prices on ebooks don't help Apple attract customers. The only 'crime' Apple committed was trying to break up Amazon's monopoly over ebooks, champ...

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Too many people, including judges and politicians, think lower prices is always best for the American people. If the price gets too low, there isn't enough money left over to pay your people and develop new products.

It's like the fallacy that we should always look out for the little guy. But really, sometimes the little guy is wrong.

You'll notice here that the federal appeals court is behaving lawfully. Cote and the Justice Department are out on a limb here, and this is a sign that the court system is going to come down hard on them.

I refer you to Alex Lindsay's comments on MacBreak Weekly this week - nepotism, perjury, and serious consequences.

Cote could end up in jail or at least never work as a judge again.

Sadly, whereas you or I would end up in jail, Cote being of the ruling class, will probably get a nice pension, early retirement, and the Justice Department will drop its action against Apple.

No real repercussions for the "legal system's" illegal behaviour. It's all just part of a DEAL, for those in the right club.

Good for Apple, but bad for the public good, and those charged with administering the law, will once again demonstrate that they are above the law.

but Cote declined to do so, arguing that "Apple's reaction to the existence of a monitorship underscores the wisdom of its imposition."

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Is this correct? My recollection is that kind of an idiotic argument was made by the justice department lawyers mocking Apple. The judge was bring passive aggressive and paternalistic stating 'I think this monitoring is good for Apple. I want this monitoring to be successful for Apple'.

If you want my unprofessional opinion, both Bromwich and Cote need to be reprimanded for unprofessional conduct and perhaps be debarred.