CNET: An appeals court has ruled that Apple did in fact conspire with book publishers to gain a foothold in the e-book space and ultimately hurt competition. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 2-1 vote that Apple conspired with five major book publishers to fix pricing on e-books to establish itself in the space and damage Amazon’s standing in the marketplace. The loss means Apple must pay $450 million as part of an earlier settlement agreement.