Judge approves U.S. settlement with publishers over e-books

A U.S. judge approved on Thursday a Justice Department settlement with three publishers accused of conspiring with Apple Inc and other publishers to push up the prices of electronic books. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan said comments on the settlement were "voluminous and overwhelmingly negative," but there was no excuse for price-fixing. The Justice Department had accused Apple and five publishers in April of illegally colluding on prices as part of an effort to fight internet retailer Amazon.com Inc's dominance of e-books. The publishers who agreed to settle are News Corp's HarperCollins Publishers Inc, CBS Corp's Simon & Schuster Inc and Lagardere SCA's Hachette Book Group - Reuters