Second Circuit Hears Oral Argument In Apple E-Book Appeal

On Monday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit heard oral argument in Apple's appeal in the e-book price-fixing lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice. This appeal follows an adverse decision from June 2013, in which the district court determined that Apple had conspired with five book publishers to raise prices on e-books in violation of the antitrust laws.

At oral argument, the Second Circuit seemed particularly interested in whether the district court had erred in applying the per se standard to this case. Apple argued that, instead of a per se analysis, the rule of reason should apply because the case concerned vertical business arrangements between Apple and the book publishers. The court also probed the relevance of Amazon's monopoly in the market for e-books in assessing the legality of Apple's conduct, asking how Apple's conduct could be condemned under the per se rule if Apple and the publishers were trying to break down Amazon's