Apple Battles US Over Scope of Ebooks Injunction

The United States offered to ease the terms of a proposed civil injunction against Apple Inc for conspiring to raise ebook prices, but the company said the revised proposal is still designed to "inflict punishment" and must be rejected. At issue is how to ensure that Apple does not violate antitrust law, following a July 10 ruling by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan that it had conspired with five major publishers to undermine pricing by rivals including Amazon.com Inc, which dominates the market for electronic books.