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Tech: Judge finds Apple guilty of price-fixing

A federal judge has found Apple guilty of conspiring to fix prices of e-books, said Brian X. Chen and Julie Bosman in The New York Times. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote said this week that the iPad manufacturer “played a central role in facilitating and executing” a conspiracy with five major book publishers and violating federal antitrust law. After the Justice Department brought the civil case last year, the five implicated book publishers “settled their cases, but Apple executives insisted that the company had done nothing wrong.”

Even after the judge’s ruling, Apple remained defiant, said Chad Bray and Joe Palazzolo in The Wall Street Journal. The company said it would appeal, calling the government’s accusations “false” and claiming that its entry into the e-book market helped break “Amazon’s monopolistic grip on the publishing industry.” Apple’s model let publishers—rather than retailers—set prices on e-books, allowing them to demand higher prices for best sellers and new releases than Amazon’s across-the-board $9.99. “As a result, prices for e-book best sellers rose to $12.99 and $14.99, the government claimed.” A separate trial for damages will now follow, involving 33 state attorneys general “who are seeking to recover money on behalf of consumers who paid higher prices for e-books.”

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Trade: U.S. and EU open trade talks

Negotiators from the U.S. and the European Union have opened talks “over what could become the world’s largest free-trade zone,” said Howard Schneider in The Washington Post. The two sides hope to “add hundreds of billions of dollars to the bottom line by better coordinating regulations and streamlining the different bureaucracies that regulate matters such as auto safety, pharmaceuticals, and food.” Labor, environmental, and consumer groups say the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership could loosen bans on genetically modified foods in Europe and end “buy America” rules in the U.S.

Media: Tribune to spin off newspapers

The Tribune Co. will spin off its newspaper unit into a separate company, said Walter Hamilton in the Los Angeles Times. “The new entity, to be called Tribune Publishing Co., would include the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, and six other daily papers.” The Tribune Co., which will retain its other assets—including real estate, television, and Internet properties—hopes the split will boost the company’s value by “unshackling” it from the newspapers, “whose revenue has been declining sharply.”

Retail: Barnes & Noble CEO quits

Barnes & Noble’s CEO is stepping down, said Roger Yu in USA Today. William Lynch, the bookstore chain’s chief executive for the last three years, announced his resignation this week from that post and from the board. A company spokeswoman declined to elaborate on Lynch’s resignation, saying, “The company is in a transition period, and we have no immediate plans to name a CEO.” Lynch’s departure comes as the beleaguered bookseller seeks to phase out some of its Nook e-reader products amid growing losses.

M&A: Kroger bulks up in the Southeast

Grocery store chain Kroger will pay $2.5 billion in cash to buy Harris Teeter Supermarkets and expand its reach in the Southeast, said Leslie Patton in Bloomberg.com. The deal will give Kroger, the nation’s largest grocery store chain, “212 stores in states including North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina.” Analysts said the acquisition would help “strengthen Kroger’s position in the Southeast.” Kroger’s offer translates to $49.38 per share, a premium of 34 percent over Harris Teeter’s share price in January.