“That was what I’ve been trying to get through to some people on here. That is what the Rule of Reason, which the US Supreme Court 2004 Areeda & Hovenkamp decision and the got more explicit and set down rules in the 2007 Leegin decision”
You keep talking about Leegin but none of what you say in Leegin about horizontal agreements is in Leegin.
Here is what the Court said about Horizontal agreements in Leegin:
“Restraints that are per se unlawful include horizontal agreements among competitors to fixprices,”
Representation of dicta taken out of context, Tex. The Justices are merely explaining what the definition of per se is. I've already told you that, multiple times. What part of "competitors" do you fail to grasp? Apple is NOT a competitor with the Publishers. Apple did not publish books. Therefore if follows that it cannot be a competitor of companies that publish books. The publishers do not sell tablets, phones, or computers, therefore it follows that the publishers are not in competition with Apple.
How can Apple be included in the "horizontal agreement among competitors" you are talking about??? Apple cannot be in that class of competitors. It is simple logic. One of these things is not like the others. They teach that concept on Romper Room and Sesame Street. Are you telling me you can't grasp what three year olds are capable of grasping?