Reuters:
Apple Inc reached an out-of-court settlement with U.S. states and other complainants in an e-book price-fixing class action lawsuit on Monday, effectively avoiding a trial in which the iPad maker faced more than $800 million in claims.
Apple is currently awaiting the results of its appeal of last July’s finding that Apple was liable for colluding with publishers. Yesterday’s settlement proposal has to be approved by the judge and is contingent on the outcome of the appeal.
They’re counting on winning the appeal and not paying a dime. It’s funny how the articles I’ve read on this all leave the contingent fact until the last sentence. That seems like it’s the most important piece of the deal…
This is Tim Cook’s Apple. Jobs probably would have kept fighting but I suspect Cook sees it as an unnecessary distraction. Best to move forward. Not better or worse, just different. Probably the right move IMHO.
Wow. Between this and the FaceTime loss, that’s $1B+legal fees. Ouch.