Apple Inc. is far from happy at the moment. Not only is facing as much as $840 million in state and consumer antitrust claims stemming from an electronic books lawsuit, but it's now lost its bid to halt oversight by a court-appointed compliance monitor, according to Business Week. The company will have to get used to the court-imposed monitor for the time being.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied Apple's motion to put the court-appointed monitor's duties on hold while it seeks to remove him completely, according to CNET.com.
"We are pleased with the court's decision," said Gina Talamona, U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman, in an interview with CNET. "Today's ruling makes abundantly clear that Apple must now cooperate with the court-appointed monitor. The appellate court's ruling reaffirms the department's and district court's decision that a monitor is necessary to oversee Apple's antitrust compliance policies, procedures and training to help ensure that Apple does not engage in future price fixing and that U.S. consumers never have to pay the price of their illegal conduct again."
The company has actually been trying to shake lawyer Michael Bromwich since last year, according to The Wall Street Journal. Yet so far, they've been unsuccessful.
Apple has gained some huge profits from electronic items. Plaintiffs argue that Apple's conduct has led to higher consumer prices for e-books, according to Business Week. This scheme to eliminate retail price competition and raise e-book prices caused consumers to suffer in a variety of ways.
The current ruling means that Apple must now cooperate with the court appointed monitor. What comes of this, though, remains anyone's guess. Currently, Apple is appealing the decision in the e-books suite as well as the appointment of an antitrust compliance monitor, according to CNET.
