The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused without comment to consider the appeal by Apple, meaning that the tech giant will have to pay some $450 million to consumers for having inflated the prices of its e-books in collusion with five publishing houses.
A New York appeals court last year found Apple guilty of conspiring with the firms to fix the prices of its e-books in violation of antitrust laws.
Apple had already reached a tentative out-of-court agreement to pay some $450 million to end the civil suit filed by consumers and several states, but it pursued its appeal and will now have to pay a $450 million settlement.
“Apple’s liability for knowingly conspiring with book publishers to raise the prices of e-books is settled once and for all,” said Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer of the Justice Department’s antitrust division.
“And consumers will be made whole,” he added.
The ruling is a victory for Amazon, which had entered the e-book market pricing its e-books at $9.99 and sparking the ire of the five publishers, who wanted higher prices.
The prices of bestselling e-books rose to as much as $14.99, severely reducing Amazon’s market share, when Apple entered the market and the lawsuit filed in 2012 accused Apple and the publishers of conspiring to force consumers to pay “tens of millions of dollars more” for e-books.
With the unveiling of its iPad in 2010 and Apple’s online iBookstore, the publishers joined with the firm to fix e-book prices and limit competition in the sector.
