Apple loses bid to disqualify antitrust monitor: U.S. court

An illustration picture shows application icons on an Apple Ipad tablet held by a woman in Bordeaux, Southwestern France, February 4, 2013.

/Regis Duvignau

A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected Apple Inc's bid to disqualify an antitrust compliance monitor who was appointed after the company was found liable for conspiring with publishers to raise the prices of e-books.The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said a lower court judge did not abuse her discretion in rejecting Apple's bid to disqualify Michael Bromwich as monitor, even though some of the company's allegations against him "give pause." (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York)