NEW YORK ¨C Apple¡¯s late founder, Steve Jobs, was a key figure Monday in the Justice Department¡¯s suit against the Silicon Valley giant for allegedly leading an illegal scheme to raise the prices of e-books.
But the focus on Jobs¡¯ role in conversations and deals made three years ago creates an odd dilemma for the court and was protested by Apple¡¯s attorneys. Justice painted the iconic tech leader as the ¡°chief ringleader¡± of a joint scheme with publishers to raise prices of e-books by $3 to $5 to break Amazon¡¯s dominance and fatten their profits.
But Jobs can¡¯t be questioned to put his emails into context, Apple¡¯s attorneys said. The court would be left to guess what Jobs was thinking in his comments to journalists and in emails to publishing executives, they argued.
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