Price Fixing Monitor Blasted by Apple for Legal Fee Extortion

The Justice Department came down hard on Apple for the agency pricing model where it established they colluded with major publishers to create a fixed price for digital books. When everything was all said and done the court appointed a monitor to insure Apple was complying with the antitrust settlement. Today, Apple is blasting the monitor that is charging them $1,100 per hour and saying they had no choice in finding someone better. Former US Justice Department inspector general Michael Bromwich was the man selected by the courts to keep tabs on Apple. In the first two weeks of work, Bromwich invoiced the Mac-maker $138,432. That number includes not only his own hourly fee, but that of a number of legal assistants brought in to support the role, and a 15% "administrative surcharge" on top. Apple said they were left hamstrung with the choice of monitor, given the role was filled by judge Denise Cote. "Mr. Bromwich appears to be simply taking advantage of the fact that there is no competition here or, in his view, any ability on the part of Apple, the subject of his authority, to push back on his demands" Apple wrote, Bloomberg reports. One of the biggest complaints that Apple has is the fact Michael is apparently allowed to talk to Apple employees without counsel present, in addition to being able to report back to Justice Cote without Apple also being in the room. The Justice Department is yet to comment on the new complaint. Price Fixing Monitor Blasted by Apple for Legal Fee Extortion is a post from: E-Reader News

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