We are not behind e-books price rise: Apple executive

An Apple executive at the center of an antitrust lawsuit by the US government said on Thursday the company “didn’t care” what price publishers set for e-books.

An Apple executive at the center of an antitrust lawsuit by the US government said on Thursday the company “didn’t care” what price publishers set for e-books.

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Eddy Cue, who has worked with Apple for 24 years, said he was not surprised when publishers increased prices for new and best-selling titles after Apple entered the e-books market in 2010, but disputed that it caused prices industry-wide to increase.

"I didn’t raise prices," he testified in federal court. Apple is the sole remaining defendant in a lawsuit in which it is accused of working with five major US publishers to fix e-book prices and undo Amazon.com Inc’s market control.

Cue was the primary negotiator with major US publishers in December 2009 and January 2010 before Apple launched its iBookstore.