Judge questions $2.25 million Apple fine

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This was published 11 years ago

Judge questions $2.25 million Apple fine

By Lucy Battersby

THE competition watchdog is seeking a $2.25 million fine against Apple for selling its new iPad as "Wi-Fi + 4G'' when the device did not work on any existing Australian 4G networks.

The case was adjourned until Wednesday to allow Justice Mordecai Bromberg of the Federal Court in Victoria to receive confidential information about Apple's operations in Australia.

Apple and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission have asked Justice Bromberg to approve the proposed fine for misleading and deceptive conduct.

However, Justice Bromberg told the parties he was unhappy with the lack of information provided to the court about Apple's financial position, the number of iPads that had been sold using the "Wi-Fi + 4G" name and how many had been returned, and the difference between how the iPads would work on a 3G or 4G network.

"Surely the parties can at least put before the court some meaningful facts that identify a disparity between the products,'' he said.

Alan Archibald, QC, acting for Apple, told the court it was irrelevant how many iPads had been sold or returned because Apple had offered to provide refunds, so there was no loss to customers.

"What conceivable damage might there be?" he said.

"This is a case of absence of loss … whatever the level of sales, there cannot be loss because anybody concerned about it could reverse the acquisition.''

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Mr Archibald argued that the $2.25 million fine should be reduced because of the absence of any loss to consumers.

Apple agreed to provide Justice Bromberg with confidential information about its financial position and the number of devices sold to allow him to judge whether the proposed penalty was appropriate.

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