DOJ Highlights Emails to Make Case Against Apple

On day one of the civil trial against Apple for alleged ebook-price fixing, the Department of Justice presented its case in an 81-slide deck that highlighted email communication between executives at Apple and heads of the five big publishers formerly named as defendants.

Many of the emails (which will be familiar to anyone who has been watching the case) referenced concern over Amazon’s $9.99 pricing strategy and publishers’ fears of trying to go it alone in challenging Amazon’s terms.

While the five publishing defendants have all settled with the DOJ, that won’t prevent their texts, emails and phone calls from coming under close scrutiny during the trial, which resumes today.

Here’s how some media outlets covered day one:

The DOJ is arguing the facts. Apple is arguing the law.

DOJ: Apple Conspired with Publishers to Book E-Book Prices

Apple Lawyers Put Judge in Book Antitrust Case on Defensive