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Apple e-book price-fixing damages trial set for next May

Second phase of price-fixing case against Apple will determine how much the company owes for allegedly conspiring with publishers to eliminate price competition.

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A federal judge has scheduled the trial to determine the damages Apple owes in its e-book price-fixing case for May 2014.

Judge Denise Cote of the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York scheduled the trial Tuesday, according to an order released to the public Wednesday. The new trial is the companion proceeding to last month's decision, in which Cote ruled that Apple played a central role in a conspiracy with publishers to eliminate price competition for e-books.

Apple said at the time that it would appeal Cote's decision. CNET has contacted Apple for comment on the new trial scheduling and will update this report when we learn more.

Cote ruled in July that "without Apple's orchestration of this conspiracy, it would not have succeeded as it did." Apple called the charges "false accusations," contending that the launch of iBookstore in 2010 injected more competition in the market, "breaking Amazon's monopolistic grip on the publishing industry."

At a hearing earlier this month to determine measures to be imposed against Apple, Cote suggested staggering Apple's future e-book negotiations with publishers so they cannot collude and chastised both Apple and book publishers for failing to demonstrate that they've seen the error of their ways.

(Via Reuters)