U.S. proposes shorter injunction in Apple e-books case

The U.S. government on Friday offered to cut in half the length of a proposed injunction to punish Apple Inc for conspiring with five major publishers to raise e-book prices.

In a court filing, the U.S. Department of Justice and 33 U.S. states and territories recommended reducing the injunction's length to five years from 10, with a chance to seek a "limited number" of one-year extensions if events warrant.

They said this change would limit the chance that the decree could outlive its usefulness and "unnecessarily harm" Apple.

They also proposed the staggered renegotiation of Apple's contracts with the publishers, in a manner proposed by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan, who oversees the case.

Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York)