Judge approves US$450m settlement in Apple e-book case

New York

A US federal judge has approved a settlement in which Apple could begin paying US$400 million to as many as 23 million consumers related to charges that it violated antitrust law by conspiring with publishers to raise e-book prices and thwart efforts by Amazon.

In the hearing last Friday, Judge Denise Cote, a US district judge in Manhattan, approved an unusual settlement reached this summer in which Apple agreed to pay US$400 million to consumers in cash and e-book credits, and US$50 million to lawyers. Those figures could still change, however, if an appeals court overturns a 2013 verdict in the antitrust case, in which Apple was found to have conspired with five major publishers to fix the price of e-books. The appeals court, which will hear Apple's challenge on Dec 15, is not expected to change its previous ruling.