Department of Justice and 33 State Attorneys General filed a remedy proposal for Apple, outlining antitrust procedures for Apple after a judge ruled that the company led a conspiracy to fix eBook prices. We’ve embedded a copy of the brief below.
The proposed agreement needs to be approved by the court, but it would stop Apple 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.”
In addition, the agreement would force Apple would have to allow eBook retailers like Barnes & Noble or Amazon “to provide links from their e-book apps to their e-bookstores” within apps for Apple devices–blocking one of Apple’s key competitive practices on the iPad and iPhone.
Finally, the DOJ proposes that Apple would install an officer inside the company. Check it out:
Additionally, the Department of Justice is asking the court to appoint an external monitor to ensure that Apple’s internal antitrust compliance policies are sufficient to catch anticompetitive activities before they result in harm to consumers. The monitor, whose salary and expenses will be paid by Apple, will work with an internal antitrust compliance officer who will be hired by and report exclusively to the outside directors comprising Apple’s audit committee. The antitrust compliance officer will be responsible for training Apple’s senior executives and other employees about the antitrust laws and ensuring that Apple abides by the relief ordered by the court.