Apple was found guilty of e-book price fixing by federal judge Denise Cote earlier this month, and it looks like the total bill for colluding with book publishers for the launch of the iBookstore will be pretty steep.

The five publishers in the case – Hachette, Penguin, Random House, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster – have already paid out $166 million,  according to figures obtained by GigaOm. Based on the settlement payments publishers have already shelled out, it looks like Apple might have to pay $500 million to the states and class action lawyers in the case.

Following a lengthy trial, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote has today ruled that Apple conspired to raise the price of e-books. Another trial for damages will follow at a later date, Reuters reports.

Eddy Cue is at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan United States Courthouse in lower Manhattan testifying in the Department of Justice’s e-books antitrust case, and he’s been sharing more information on the work that went into developing iBooks prior to its launch in 2010.

Cue reveled that Steve Jobs, then Apple’s CEO, chose to give away a free copy of Winnie-the-Pooh not just because he liked the book, but because its colorful illustrations showcased the capabilities of digital e-books in the iBooks app.

During Apple’s trial against the U.S. Department of Justice it was revealed that Apple now controls about 20 percent of the U.S. ebook market, thanks the growth of Apple’s iBookstore.

The news came during director Keith Moerer’s testimony in court on Tuesday. Moerer was called as a government witness in the U.S. vs Apple case where Apple stand accused of working with publishers to fix the price of ebooks when the iBookstore launched in 2010.

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Penguin announced this morning that the company has reached an agreement with the US State Attorneys General to pay $75 million as a settlement for the eBook price fixing claims that have been launched against Apple’s iBookstore.

US authorities have called Apple out for collusion with electronic book publishers, saying that the Cupertino-based company conspired with publishers to raise eBook prices when negotiating iBooks by playing them all against each other and against rival eBook retailer, Amazon.

Here’s Penguin’s official statement on the settlement:

About a month ago, Amazon bought Goodreads, a popular social network for reviewing and recommending books. The reason was obvious: Goodreads in the Kindle Store. But what a new report shows is that the buyout was also a move to steal Goodreads away from a potential partnership with Apple.

The Starbucks Pick of the Week promotion has finally gone digital, allowing you to download free apps and books on your iOS devices without a card or redemption code. All you need now is the Starbucks app, which will allow you to download the latest giveaway when connected to an in-store Wi-Fi network.

Last year, Apple was hit with an antitrust case from the U.S. Department of Justice over the pricing scheme of e-books in Apple’s iBookstore. Since that time, 11 executives at Apple have already been deposed over the issue, but the Department of Justice is demanding Tim Cook be involved, and they just got their way.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote granted the Justice Department’s request to get Cook to testify on the ebook antitrust case for four hours.

Apple works hard to ensure that inappropriate content doesn’t end up in the wrong hands, and it has strict ratings and approval processes for content distributed through the App Store, the iBookstore, and the iTunes Store. But it would seem the Cupertino company isn’t quite as careful with its social media accounts.

On Sunday night, Apple’s official iBookstore account on Twitter retweeted a lewd message that would certainly get a 17+ rating from the company.

A new Apple patent application purchased by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office details a new system that may one day allow you to sell or lend on your “used” digital goods, such as iTunes purchases and software you’ve downloaded from the App Store.

Apple details a system that could see used goods sold through their original marketplaces, like those mentioned above, or directly between users.