Apple found guilty of fixing e-book prices

US Judge: 'Without Apple's orchestration of this conspiracy, it would not have succeeded as it did in the spring of 2010'

Apple is guilty of conspiring with publishers to fix the price of e-books, an American federal judge has ruled.

In a Manhattan court, US District Judge Denise Cote ruled that the company behind the iPad and iPhone had "conspired to restrain trade" in violation of antitrust laws.

"The plaintiffs have shown that the publisher defendants conspired with each other to eliminate retail price competition in order to raise e-book prices, and that Apple played a central role in facilitating and executing that conspiracy," said Cote.

"Without Apple's orchestration of this conspiracy, it would not have succeeded as it did in the spring of 2010," she added.

The year 2010 is significant, as it was April that year in which Apple first released the iPad. The company was accused of colluding with publishers as early as 2009 - ahead of the iPad's initial release - in order to fix prices. Books, which had previously been sold on Amazon's digital store for $9.99 saw prices rise to up to $14.99.

The five publishers, including Penguin, each settled before the jury-less trial. Apple will be required to pay damages in future, after a new hearing determines what the figure should be.

Apple has said it will appeal against the decision and claims to have done nothing wrong.

"Apple did not conspire to fix e-book pricing and we will continue to fight against these false accusations. When we introduced the iBookstore in 2010, we gave customers more choice, injecting much-needed innovation and competition into the market, breaking Amazon's monopolistic grip on the publishing industry. We've done nothing wrong and we will appeal the judge's decision," the company said in a statement.

Apple is currently under investigation in another antitrust probe, with the European Union attempting to determine if the firm's contract deals with telecoms providers were designed to shut out rival phone manufacturers such as Samsung and HTC.