Appeals court upholds Apple e-book settlement

A US appeals court rejected Wednesday a challenge to a settlement between Apple and consumers which could have voided a $450 million payout deal in the Apple e-books antitrust case. A three-judge panel dismissed criticism of the settlement by plaintiff John Bradley that a lower US court had erred in considering the settlement for damages before Apple's appeals of its liability in the case are heard. In July 2013, US District Judge Denise Cote ruled that Apple was liable of conspiring with five book publishers to fix e-book prices, a decision upheld by an appellate court.
Apple has launched an appeal in the case to the US Supreme Court. Bradley's attorney, Steve Miller, had argued that Cote should not in November 2014 have approved the $450 million settlement while the appeal on Apple's liability was still unresolved. Bradley challenged the fairness, reasonableness and adequacy of the settlement.