Apple's $450 million ebooks case settlement received preliminary approval from US District Judge Denise Cote today, though the ultimate sum distributed to consumers will hinge on the outcome of Apple's appeal. If the original verdict is upheld, $400 million will go to consumers that were "harmed" by the price-fixing scheme between Apple and book publishers, with $50 million directed to lawyers' pockets. If Apple somehow pulls an upset and wins on appeal, the company won't have to pay anything. And then there's a third scenario: the appeals court could overturn Cote's verdict and kick the case back down to her for another go. Should that play …

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Apple will pay $450 million as part of the US state lawsuit against it claiming the company conspired to raise the price of ebooks to consumers. Pending an appeal effort from Apple, $400 million of that could be going back to consumers, which would add to an earlier $166 million book publishers agreed to pay out as part of an earlier settlement.

"This settlement proves that even the biggest, most powerful companies in the world must play by the same rules as everyone else," New York Attorney General Schneiderman said in a statement. "In a major victory, our settlement has the potential to result in Apple paying hundreds of millions of dolla …

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Apple has received a new damages claim of over $840 million for conspiring with publishing companies to raise the price of ebooks across the entire industry. The claim, filed Friday in New York by an attorney leading a class action lawsuit on behalf of ebooks customers in 33 states, stems from the US Justice Department's successful antitrust lawsuit against Apple that took place in the summer of 2013. Using evidence presented during the course of that trial last year, attorney Steve Berman begins by arguing that Apple owes American ebooks customers a bare minimum of $231 million in damages, and probably far more money than that.

bare minimum …

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Apple is being temporarily relieved of the court-appointed antitrust-compliance monitor that it had instated after being found guilty in an ebook price-fixing trial last year. According to Reuters, the monitor is being removed at least until a federal court can hear Apple's motion to have the monitor fully removed during its appeal of the decision. The government did not oppose Apple's request for this temporary stay on the monitor, and it will reportedly have until January 24th to oppose its motion to remove the monitor throughout the appeal.

The stay is a small victory for Apple, but a victory nonetheless. Apple has been criticizing the m …

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Apple's stuck with the court-appointed monitor tasked with keeping an eye on the inner workings of its digital business - at least for now. In a ruling today, US District Judge Denise Cote denied a request by Apple to oust Michael Bromwich, who last year was tasked with keeping the tech giant within the bounds of antitrust laws following its loss to the Justice Department over ebooks price-fixing. In a filing last week Apple said it wanted Bromwich out, and accused him of having a personal bias against the company. Moreover, Apple had also tried to reverse the need for a monitor entirely, something Cote denied as part of her ruling today, Re …

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Apple is pushing to remove the court-appointed antitrust compliance monitor for its ebook price-fixing court case. The company says Michael Bromwich - who was appointed by US District Judge Denise Cote earlier this year - has a personal bias against the company, and should be disqualified from serving in his assigned position.

Law firm Gibson Dunn wrote to Judge Cote this week, stating that Bromwich thinks of himself as an "independent prosecutor not a judge," and imagines himself "unconstrained by the federal rules governing discovery and other matters." The letter's main argument for the compliance monitor's removal is a "wholly inapprop …

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After Apple was found guilty of ebook price-fixing earlier this year, US District Judge Denise Cote appointed Michael Bromwich as the company's antitrust compliance monitor. Bromwich has been tasked with keeping an eye on Apple for two years to help ensure the company doesn't repeat the business tactics that landed it in the DOJ's crosshairs. Apple is required to pay Bromwich for his work, but after receiving his first invoice, it's already filed a complaint with the federal court overseeing the case.

The world's most valuable tech company says Bromwich is asking for too much

Bromwich is reportedly seeking an hourly rate of $1,100 for his fiv …

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