A trial on alleged price fixing of e-books by Apple (News - Alert) got underway in federal court in New York on Monday.

The U.S. Department of Justice is squaring off against Apple in a trial before U.S. District Court Judge Denise Cote in the Southern District of New York.

There is already a question about her view of the evidence. During a recent hearing before the trial began, Cote suggested she may rule against Apple, news reports said.

“I believe that the government will be able to show at trial direct evidence that Apple knowingly participated in and facilitated a conspiracy to raise prices of e-books, and that the circumstantial evidence in this case, including the terms of the agreements, will confirm that,” Cote said in news reports.

On Monday, the courtroom was completely filled, as interested parties watched the events unfold.

The Justice Department is claiming that Apple was the “ringmaster” in a scheme to fix prices of e-books, TMCnet reported.

Five publishing companies — identified by TMCnet as Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin and Simon & Schuster — have settled the charges against them already.

“There’s simply no dispute that publishers wanted to raise e-book prices and that Apple conspired with them to do the same,” Lawrence Buterman, a lawyer for the Department of Justice, said in opening arguments on Monday, news reports said. “Apple was a facilitator and go-between to move publishers to higher prices.”

It was also revealed that during the trial the government plans to call representatives from the publishing companies.

“Apple has been waiting for this day for a long time,” Orin Snyder, a lawyer for Apple, was quoted in news reports. “Apple is going to trial because it did nothing wrong.”

Snyder also asked Cote “to erase any tentative conclusions” – about the case.

Tom Neumayr, a spokesman for Apple, has denied the price-fixing allegations to The New York Times.

“We helped transform the e-book market with the introduction of the iBookstore in 2010, bringing consumers an expanded selection of e-books and delivering innovative new features,” Neumayr said. “The market has been thriving and innovating since Apple’s entry, and we look forward to going to trial to defend ourselves and move forward.”

"Apple did not conspire to fix e-book prices. The evidence proves that Apple acted independently, to further its own legitimate business goals, in negotiating agency agreements with the publishers to enter the e-book market," the company added in a recent court filing.