Publishers challenge court restrictions in Apple e-book row

Publishers who were part of Apple's 'e-book price fix' row have reportedly filed a complaint against the US court ruling which ordered the software giant to terminate its deals with five major companies and allow other retailers to sell e-books on Apple devices for next two years.

Last month, court had ruled that Apple allegedly fixed the prices of e-books with publishers thereby creating unfair competition for other retailers.

According to the BBC, HarperCollins, Simon and Shuster and Penguin are among those who have challenged the court and said that they are being punished by the restrictions.

Most publishers had reached separate settlements then totaling more than 150 million dollars. However, Apple had said that it would fight the 'false allegations'.

The publishers have said that under the guise of punishing Apple, the court ruling is effectively punishing them and the provisions do not impose any limitation on Apple's pricing behaviour at all.

Garner analyst Van Baker said that it is basically putting a stake through a portion of Apple's business and it is a pretty heavy-handed solution to the issue, the report added.