Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden’s office announced a proposed settlement with Apple for its role in an E-book market price-fixing scheme.
Claims for damages brought by Delaware and 32 other states and territories could net consumers affected $400 million, pending the results of Apple's appeal of the US District Court's July 2013 decision in the case.
If the appeal goes in Apple's favor, there could be a smaller settlement - or no recovery at all - if its is determined Apple did not violate antitrust laws.
The settlement could potentially provide consumers with more than double their actual damages - as settlement funds have already been paid by the five publishing groups involved in the effort that artificially raised the prices of electronic books sold to consumers through Apple between 2010 and 2012.
Those publishers - Penguin Group (USA), Inc. (now part of Penguin Random House); Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC d/b/a Macmillan; Hachette Book Group Inc.; HarperCollins Publishers LLC; and Simon & Schuster Inc. - have already paid out over $540,000 to E-book purchasers in Delaware from a separate $166 million settlement.
Biden's proposed settlement agreement also remains subject to approval by the US District Court of the Southern District of New York.