How much regulatory control should Apple receive in the eBook price fixing case?
Boston University School of Law professor Keith Hylton, the co-authored Laws of Creation: Property Rights in the World of Ideas, thought damages alone should be sufficient. He explained in a statement:
The bans and the monitor are probably unnecessary. Apple will have to pay damages, unless it is successful on appeal. The damage awards should serve as a sufficient deterrent. The monitor, an increasingly popular remedy, converts the Sherman Act into a regulatory statute, which is not its original purpose.
Department of Justice proposed a strict set of controls today. These included a forced change in Apple’s in-app purchasing policies and a two-year ban from “entering into agreements with suppliers of e-books, music, movies, television shows or other content that are likely to increase the prices at which Apple’s competitor retailers may sell that content.”