Apple took to a US federal court on Monday to defend itself against government charges that it acted as a ringleader in a conspiracy with book publishers to increase prices and eliminate competition in the ebook market. The DoJ suit seeks to portray both Apple and Steve Jobs, the company's then chief executive, as ringleaders in a conspiracy to boost ebook prices and eliminate competition in a market that was dominated by Amazon, the creator of the Kindle, at the time Apple launched its iPad device and iBookstore in 2010. The tech company first explored its entry into the ebook market in December 2009 before the launch of the iPad in January 2010. During initial meetings with top publishing executives, Apple learnt of their dismay with the $9.99 price point that its competitor Amazon.com charged for ebooks - not because they weren't making money but because that price tag was "too low a price for consumers to be paying for their products," Mr Buterman said. Through a wholesale model, publishers sold digital books to retailers like Amazon for $10. Amazon turned around and sold the books to consumers for $9.99 - essentially breaking even on the sale. Publishers made various attempts to boost prices, but were unsuccessful until Apple shook up the market with a plan for publishers to adopt the so-called "agency model" where publishers would set the price for an ebook and receive a 70 per cent cut of the sale through Apple's new digital bookstore, Mr Buterman said. Publishers also agreed to similar terms with other retailers and agreed to match the price that another retailer was charging, he said. "They were looking for Apple to solve the problem," Mr Buterman said. That is exactly what Apple did. As a result of this model, publishers would not make more money but consumers faced "dramatic" prices increases for ebooks across the board, the DoJ argued, pointing to an excerpt from the biography of Mr Jobs, where he is quoted saying, "So we told the publishers, we'll go to the agency model, where you set the price and we get our 30 per cent, and yes, the customer pays a little more." During its opening arguments, Apple said the charges in the DoJ's suit last year were wrong and a "sinister" interpretation of its business practices. The company said the DoJ misquoted and misconstrued statements, conversations and meetings between business executives as well as distorted the timeline of events. Apple argued that one of the government's core arguments - that average ebook prices have increased following Apple's entry into the ebook market - was false. "Apple did not conspire with any publishers to raise prices," said Orin Snyder, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, who is leading Apple's trial team. He said Apple should be applauded for expanding the ebook market. Apple did not care about pricing, but just wanted to match prices in its bookstore to the lowest price available, he said.