eBook price-fixing verdict could cost Apple almost $500 million

The vast majority of Apple’s award from its Samsung patent infringement victory could go up in smoke now that the company has been found guilty of conspiring to fix eBook prices. GigaOM takes a look at the amounts paid out by various publishers who were also found guilty of taking part in the price-fixing scheme and determines that the company will likely have to pay more than all the publishers combined due to its role as ringleader in the scheme and its adamant refusal to admit wrongdoing. A lawyer from Hagens Berman, the lead class action firm in the case, tells GigaOM that Apple will likely have to pay three times’ the publishers’ total liabilities, minus the $166 million that the publishers agreed to pay in separate settlements. This would bring damages against Apple to $490 million, which is just over $100 million less than the $599 million the company is due from its Samsung patent victory.

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This article was originally published on BGR.com