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Emails involving the heads of publishing houses, including Markus Dohle, Brian Murray, Carolyn Reidy, David Young and John Sargent, were among the evidence brought to court on the opening day of Apple's trial over e-book price fixing.
The case against Apple, brought by the Department of Justice in the US, began yesterday [3rd June] in New York, and is expected to last for three weeks. Each side has 29 hours to make their case.
As both sides made their opening statements, the evidence brought included emails involving Random House c.e.o. Markus Dohle; Simon & Schuster US chief Carolyn Reidy; Macmillan c.e.o. John Sargent; and Hachette Book Group c.e.o. and chairman David Young; among other publishing staff and Apple's business leaders including Steve Jobs.
The Department of Justice has released an 81-page slideshow of the evidence used, with attorney Lawrence Buterman arguing that Apple conspired with publishers to move to agency agreements with Apple and coerced other retailers to move to that model as well.
Much of the correspondence cited involves Apple senior vice-president for internet software and services Eddy Cue, with emails detailing his observations following meetings with publishers ahead of the launch of the iBookstore.
The DoJ's evidence also included emails between publishing colleagues at Hachette that reported that Apple had suggested the launch of the iBookstore was the "best chance for publishers to challenge the $9.99 price point", and that the tech company had thought that the agency model "is the only way to do it".
The DoJ evidence also set out an argument that Apple facilitated publisher communication on the topic of e-book pricing, in which it included a timeline showing communications between HarperCollins chief Brian Murray and Random House head Markus Dohle.
Meanwhile, an email from Macmillan c.e.o. John Sargent following the switch to the agency model was cited, in which he stated: "The optics make it look like I stood alone, but in the end I had no doubt that the others would eventually follow."
The DoJ also, as expected, included a section from Walter Issacson's biography of former Apple c.e.o. Steve Jobs, in which Jobs is quoted as saying: "So we told the publishers, 'We'll go to the agency model, where you set the price, and we get our 30%, and yes, the customer pays a little more, but that's what you want anyway."
Meanwhile, Apple's lawyer Orin Snyder's opening statement lasted three hours, according to reports.
He used the opening statement to argue that there was no evidence that Apple "knew anything about interactions between publishers". He also argued that the most favoured nation clause that Apple negotiated with the publishers enabled Apple to be "indifferent to what happens at other retailers". This countered the DoJ's point that it gave it control over prices at other retailers.
Snyder is also reported to have said: "Apple has been waiting for this day for a long time . . . Apple is going to trial because it did nothing wrong. Even our government is fallible, and sometime the government gets it wrong."
He cautioned the court against using the late Jobs' comments without him being there to explain or defend them and added: "This is a bizarre antitrust case. It's the first time in the history of antitrust laws that a new entrant coming into a concentrated market . . . is condemned."
All the major publishers involved in the case—HarperCollins, Hachette, Simon & Schuster and Macmillan—have settled out of court with the DoJ, leaving Apple as the only company defending the charges.
The case continues.