Law360, New York (August 2, 2013, 3:24 PM EDT) -- On July 10, 2013, Judge Denise Cote of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that Apple Inc. committed a per se illegal violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act when it instigated and facilitated a horizontal conspiracy between several leading book publishers to raise retail prices to consumers for electronic versions of books. Because the publishers had all settled the allegations against them prior to trial, trial testimony and the opinion focused most heavily on Apple's actions and liability for encouraging and enabling the conspiracy. The opinion offers useful lessons for counsel and companies in complex distribution relationships....