Apple fired back -- again -- at the Department of Justice over the latest reforms it proposed to protect competition in the e-books market following the computer maker's conviction in July of a price-fixing conspiracy.
In a letter to the court filed Monday, Apple attorney Orin Snyder called the government's revised remedies a "broadside masquerading as a brief" that largely ignores the court's instructions to find a compromise with Apple and rein in a request for an external antitrust monitor.
The Justice Department's brief aims to justify measures that would give rival Amazon a "significant competitive advantage over Apple," the letter said, adding that restraining the company's dealings with Amazon and other e-book retailers in its App Store is outside the scope of what the government pursued at trial.
Snyder asked the court to order the department withdraw its latest proposals and instead file a document in line with what the court requested, or at least give Apple "a chance to respond in full."
Later Tuesday, Judge Denise Cote held a hearing to review her recommended changes to the government's proprosal, and she asked both sides to consult with each other to produce an injunction she could sign into practice next week.
She said she was disappointed with Apple for failing to show it has learned lessons from its antitrust conviction despite numerous opportunities to do so. She said that led her to "reluctantly" agree that the computer maker needs an external monitor, which she suggested should not only evaluate Apple's internal antitrust policies but also evaluate an antitrust training program that reaches anybody at the company involved in content. She pointed to "anyone in Mr. Cue's group," referring to Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet software and services.
However, she said the government's proposed limits on Apple's App Store were too disruptive. "I want this injunction to rest as lightly as possible" on Apple while still ensuring consumer protection, she said. She said a measure requiring Apple to include hyperlinks in their iOS apps to e-book rivals' bookstores wouldn't produce a benefit to the market that outweighs "the disturbance it would cause in Apple's management of the App Store."
Both Apple and the government agreed to submit another proposal to Judge Cote by Wednesday.
source cnet
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