Bloomberg reports that a court filing on Monday in the Southern District Court of New York, says Apple has reached an out-of-court settlement with both class action lawyers and state district attorneys over e-book price-fixing.
Settlement details remain sealed and must be approved by the court. If approved, this agreement will end litigation ahead of a potentially costly damages trial that was slated to begin July 14. Apple faced more than $800 million in damages in this class-action antitrust lawsuit involving both consumers and states.
Steve Berman, lawyer for the plaintiffs, told Bloomberg that all the U.S. attorneys general and consumers settled the case. As he had filed a memorandum of understanding with the court under seal, he is prevented from providing details on the agreement.
An earlier decision saw Apple being found guilty of conspiring with book publishers to fix e-book prices. That lawsuit had been brought against Apple by the U.S. Department of Justice. As it prepared for the launch of its iBookstore for the iPad in 2010, Apple had sought to change the business model of the sales of e-books, which the DoJ claimed resulted in higher prices for consumers. Apple appealed the decision in February.
