Manhattan Judge Denise Cote said the iPad maker² "conspired to restrain trade".

 

But the firm's spokesman, Tom Neumayr, said Apple would appeal against the ruling and fight "false allegations".

 

Five publishers that were originally named as defendants³ alongside Apple have already reached settlements, including Penguin⁴.

 

The judge ordered a new hearing to determine damages to be imposed on Apple.

 

The US Department of Justice said the conspiracy⁵ was designed to challenge online retailer⁷ Amazon's dominance of the fast-growing e-books market.

 

Penguin settled its case for $75m. Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster created a $69m fund for refunds⁸ to consumers, while Macmillan settled for $26m.

 

Judge Cote said: "The plaintiffs have shown that the publisher defendants conspired with each other to eliminate retail⁶ price competition in order to raise e-book prices, and that Apple played a central role in facilitating and executing that conspiracy.

 

"Without Apple's orchestration of this conspiracy, it would not have succeeded as it did in the spring of 2010," she said.

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