iBooksBack in July, Apple was found guilty of conspiring to raise the retail price of e-books, following a lawsuit brought by the United States Department of Justice.

As part of its punishment, Apple was ordered to hire an external compliance monitor to ensure that the company complies with all antitrust requirements in the future.

Michael Bromwich, a former U.S. Justice Department inspector general, was appointed to the position and is apparently charging exorbitant fees that Apple is unhappy with (via Bloomberg). The company has filed a formal objection against Bromwich, who has proposed an hourly fee of $1,100 along with a 15 percent administrative fee and an additional cost for hiring extra lawyers to assist him.

Mr. Bromwich has proposed an hourly rate for himself of $1,100. And because he lacks any antitrust experience, Mr. Bromwich has also retained the law firm Fried Frank to assist him, whose partner's hourly rate is $1,025. Mr. Bromwich has made no attempt to justify why his lack of any substantive experience with the matter at issue justifies hiring another law firm with a four-digit billing rate.

Following two weeks of work, Bromwich sent Apple an invoice of $138,432, which Apple described as "unprecedented in Apple's experience." Apple has also filed other complaints against Bromwich, suggesting that he is overstepping his bounds by demanding interviews with Apple employees like CEO Tim Cook and lead designer Jony Ive.

In a letter to Tim Cook and Apple’s board, Bromwich noted that he had experienced "a surprising and disappointing lack of cooperation from Apple and its executives" and suggested that Apple had no say in what it pays for external monitoring.

Our requests to meet with key Apple personnel have been largely ignored, and when not ignored the responses have been extremely slow in coming. The company has spent far more time challenging the terms of our compensation and raising other objections related to administrative matters, even though the Court's Order provided no role for Apple in setting the monitor’s compensation.

According to Apple, both Bromwich’s suggested compensation and his attempts to contact Apple board members and senior executives directly are inappropriate, and the company asks that the court issue an order directing Bromwich to limit his monitorship.

Top Rated Comments

GadgetDon Avatar
122 months ago
First, the fact that he says he has no experience in anti-trust makes me wonder, WTF was he doing being placed in that position? Why not give the monitoring job to the guy he's hiring to actually DO HIS JOB.

Second, the guy has one area of authority. The Anti-trust behavior regarding the ebooks. The judge admitted that neither MFN nor agency model are inherently restraint of trade, so he can't use the idea of "but you use the agency model elsewhere" to expand his authority. John Ivy is involved in the design of the hardware and, most recently, the software. He has NOTHING to do with the agreements reached with content providers or suppliers or retailers or anyone.

Third, according to another article, not only is this guy insisting on interviewing top management at his leisure, he's insisting on interviewing them without any of Apple's lawyers present. Damn straight Tim Cook doesn't want an interview under those terms, he's got an IQ over 50 and he knows that's insane. This guy is also insisting on the ability to report to the judge without any representatives from Apple being present.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DarkWinter Avatar
122 months ago
I'd like to hear the justification for requesting an interview with Ive given the subject matter.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fredaroony Avatar
122 months ago
lol the irony...Apple complaining about overcharging
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gatearray Avatar
122 months ago
...even though the Court's Order provided no role for Apple in setting the monitor's compensation.
So why not charge $2,000 an hour? :)

These days, top lawyers in NYC seem to earn about $800/hr, so where does this guy get off billing $1,100? Oh that's right, he was appointed to this position by the judge who probably is a friend of his and Apple has deep pockets so he gets carte blanche with the bill.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
robbyx Avatar
122 months ago
Amerika at work. Punish the successful. Over regulate. And by all means, when you're part of the government, the new, untouchable political class, charge whatever you want for your middling skills.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
albusseverus Avatar
122 months ago
If you look at this as a shakedown of Apple by the administration and their friends, it makes more sense. Apple clearly isn't donating enough to political parties and they want their rightful slice of Apple's profits.

Book companies are pretty good at price fixing, without Apple.

Government isn't the only sector where people with no experience get appointed to jobs they can't do.

Filthy lucre. That's all it is.

The point is - the government wants control over Apple's business, that's why they weren't fined, which would have been the normal practise. A fine would have gone to those that suffered the book companies' greed, or to public funds.

The conviction was predetermined and wrong. Everything follows from my initial observation. It's a shakedown.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 16

iOS 16.4 for iPhone Nearing Launch With These 5 New Features

Monday March 20, 2023 11:50 am PDT by
Apple says iOS 16.4 is coming in the spring, which began this week. In his Sunday newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the update should be released "in the next three weeks or so," meaning a public release is likely in late March or early April. iOS 16.4 remains in beta testing and introduces a handful of new features and changes for the iPhone. Below, we have recapped five new features ...
iPhone 15 Pro Buttons CAD Leak

iPhone 15 Pro Leak Reveals Unified Volume Button and Mute Button

Monday March 20, 2023 8:33 am PDT by
As previously rumored, the next-generation iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will feature a unified volume button and a mute button, according to leaked CAD images shared in a video on the Chinese version of TikTok and posted to Twitter by ShrimpApplePro. Instead of separate buttons for volume up and volume down, the iPhone 15 Pro models are expected to have a single elongated button for...
voice isolation

iOS 16.4 Adds Voice Isolation for Cellular Phone Calls

Tuesday March 21, 2023 11:01 am PDT by
The iOS 16.4 update that is set to be released to the public in the near future includes voice isolation for cellular calls, according to notes that Apple shared today. Apple says that Voice Isolation will prioritize your voice and block out the ambient noise around you, making for clearer phone calls where you can better hear the person you're chatting with and vice versa. Voice...
airpodsd 3 purple 4

iOS 16.4 Seemingly References New AirPods and AirPods Case

Tuesday March 21, 2023 11:43 am PDT by
The iOS 16.4 release candidate version that was provided to developers today appears to hint at a new set of AirPods that could be coming in the near future. According to @aaronp613, the beta features references to AirPods that have a model number of A3048 and an AirPods case with a model number of A2968. There have been no rumors that new AirPods are on the horizon, and it is early for...
maxresdefault

Nothing Launches $149 Ear (2) Wireless Earbuds to Compete With AirPods Pro 2

Wednesday March 22, 2023 9:48 am PDT by
Nothing today announced the launch of its second-generation wireless earbuds, the Nothing Ear (2), which offer many of the same features as Apple's AirPods Pro 2 at a lower price point. We went hands-on with the Ear (2) earbuds to see whether they're a viable alternative to the AirPods Pro 2 for those who want to save some cash. The Ear (2) earbuds are the successor to the Nothing Ear (1),...
iOS 16

Apple Seeds Release Candidate Versions of iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 to Developers [Update: Public RC Available]

Tuesday March 21, 2023 10:25 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after the launch of the fourth betas. The RCs mark the final version of the software that will be provided to the public in the near future. Registered developers are able to download the iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 updates...
apple park at night 1

Apple 'Tracking Employee Attendance' in Crackdown on Remote Working

Thursday March 23, 2023 3:41 am PDT by
Apple is tracking the attendance of its employees at offices using badge records in order to ensure they are coming in at least three times a week, according to Platformer's Zoë Schiffer. Since April 2022, Apple employees have been operating on a hybrid home/office work policy as part of a gradual return strategy following the pandemic, with staff required to work from the office at least...
iphone 14 pro max deep purple feature purple

iPhone 15 Pro Rumor Recap: 10 New Features and Changes to Expect

Thursday March 23, 2023 6:42 am PDT by
While the iPhone 15 series is still around six months away from launching, there have already been plenty of rumors about the devices. Many new features and changes have been rumored for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max in particular. Below, we have recapped 10 changes rumored for iPhone 15 Pro models that are not expected to be available on the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus:A1...