This is War: that was the feeling in a full-house Manhattan courtroom on Monday morning as Apple and the U.S. Department of Justice finally began a  trial that has been brewing for months.

The legal engagement, which centers around governmental accusations that Apple colluded with publishing companies in order boost and fix eBook prices, has been festering for over a year now, ever since the Department of Justice first filed suit against Apple and numerous major book publishers for the offense. But the publishing corporations all opted to settle out of court, leaving Apple the lone defendant today, as the first shots of courtroom drama flared.

Both sides gave their opening statements today, revealing the overarching themes of their trial arguments to judge, jury, and an attentive audience of reporters, analysts, and New York City residents.

The Justice Department claims that Apple sensed desire within the publishing industry to raise eBook prices, and that the company used that information as a means to gain a foothold in the market next to long-ruling bookseller, Amazon. Attorney Lawrence Buterman, who will represent the Department of Justice throughout the case, acknowledged the roles of the publishers in the price-fixing plot, but pointed to Apple as the ringleader and initiator.

Buterman revealed an email correspondence between Apple executives and the involved book publishers, and even referenced a series of on-the-record admissions from the late Steve Jobs, as his first-round ammunition against the tech corporation.

Apple attorney Orin Snyder took the floor for almost three hours to refute Buterman’s points. He claimed that the aforementioned email correspondence was a straightforward professional communication, meant to help the company set down roots in the book industry, and that any price agreements made between Apple and the publishing companies were negotiated and executed in complete legality to allow the company competitive equality alongside established market heavyweights like Amazon.

Snyder called the trial “a bizarre antitrust case,” pointing to Amazon as a would-be monopoly within the eBook market, and crediting Apple for breaking up the online marketplace’s stranglehold on the industry. He pointed out that eBook prices have actually fallen since Apple entered the fray, that more titles are now available in digital formats, and that the competition between Amazon and Apple has created a better market atmosphere for consumers.

Apple’s attorney also encouraged the plaintiff to refrain from using quotes from Jobs as evidence, arguing that the former CEO would  not be able  explain his remarks to the court, and that using his words could thus become misleading. Snyder feared that such remarks could be used to sway jury members without giving proper context.

“Apple has been waiting for this day for a long time,” Snyder said, summing up his opening statement. “Apple is going to trial because it did nothing wrong. Even our government is fallible, and sometimes the government gets it wrong.”