Southern District of New York (Cote, J.), Electronic Books Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 11-MD-2293 (DLC), here.
Apple's "contentions misconstrue the nature of the agreement
described in the Complaint. Regardless of the nature of the
specific terms of the vertical Agency Agreements when examined
in isolation, the CAC plausibly alleges a horizontal agreement
among the publishers, furthered by Apple, to raise the prices of
eBooks and eliminate retail competition. A horizontal agreement
to fix or raise prices is per se unreasonable", p. 53.
Apple's "contentions misconstrue the nature of the agreement
described in the Complaint. Regardless of the nature of the
specific terms of the vertical Agency Agreements when examined
in isolation, the CAC plausibly alleges a horizontal agreement
among the publishers, furthered by Apple, to raise the prices of
eBooks and eliminate retail competition. A horizontal agreement
to fix or raise prices is per se unreasonable", p. 53.