External monitor to keep check on Apple's e-book price fixing

A US judge has reportedly suggested that an external monitoring body is necessary to keep check on tech giant Apple's blatant violations of anti-trust law as it allegedly fixed prices of e-books with publishers.

The US District Judge Denise Cote said that a final injunction would be narrower than what the Department of Justice has been seeking and not restrict Apple's agreements with suppliers of other types of content such as movies, music and TV shows.

Cote said that a monitor would be necessary after Apple had failed to show it learned its lesson from its blatant violations of antitrust law, Stuff.co.nz reports.

She added that the monitor would likely be installed to review Apple's internal antitrust compliance program and procedures and recommend changes and also require annual antitrust training for employees in Apple's e-books and content businesses.

According to the report, Cote had ruled on July 10 that Apple had conspired with five major US publishers to undermine e-book pricing established by the dominant retailer in the market, Amazon.com.

The five publishers have settled with regulators but Cote has scheduled a May 2014 trial to weigh damages, which could reach hundreds of millions of dollars to the company.

The report said that Apple had vigorously contested against hiring of a monitor and said that hiring one would be 'extremely costly and burdensome'.