James Delahunty
13 Jan 2014 19:18
A U.S. federal judge has blocked Apple's attempt to have antitrust monitor, Michael Bromwich, removed from position.
Apple was found to have conspired to fix e-book prices after a length investigation by the U.S. government which also included settlements from major publishers who were also involved.
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan appointed Michael Bromiwch as an antitrust monitor in October, 2013. Since then, Apple made several complaints about Bromwich. First, it complained that Bromwich was aggressively trying to interview top execs at the company in November, despite his mandate calling for him to review Apple's antitrust policies after 90 days. The iPhone-maker also objected to the $1,100 per hour fee.
Bromwich filed a declaration disputing Apple's claims and detailing difficulties in getting cooperation from the company, prompting Apple to claim he had a personal bias against it. The Justice Department has accused Apple of carrying out a campaign of character assassination against Bromwich.
If that's the case, it hasn't yet been successful as Judge Cote denied Apple's move, saying she wanted the monitorship to work for Apple, which now has an option to appeal.