Archive for the 'Conspiracy' Category
February 28, 2014
Guest post by Burt Braverman
(Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP)
Virtually every industry, from telecommunications to agriculture, has benefited from standard-setting organizations (SSOs), whose collaborative work can advance technology, promote health and safety, and enhance quality and efficiency. From an antitrust perspective, by facilitating comparability and interoperability, SSOs can lessen barriers to entry, increase competition, reduce costs, and thus serve consumer welfare. It’s no wonder that courts and antitrust enforcement agencies have recognized SSOs’ pro-competitive qualities and the contributions they make to our nation’s economy. But on occasion, some SSOs have been accused of having a dark side, and of serving as a vehicle by which corporate members can use leadership positions within the SSO to promote their own interests and harm competitors.
February 25, 2014
Guest post by Burt Braverman
(Davis Wright Tremaine LLP)
Professional and trade associations contribute to the public welfare in many ways, including disseminating information, promoting research, developing standards and spurring industry initiatives. But such associations generally are composed primarily of actual or potential competitors, and sometimes seemingly benign conduct—including even actions intended to promote the ethical conduct of an association’s members—can have untoward consequences for third parties, association members and the association itself, including potential antitrust liability. The recent announcement by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of consent decrees entered into by two professional associations—the first representing music teachers, and the other representing legal support services providers—highlights this risk and the need for professional and trade associations to guard against their codes of ethics, and also their policies, standards, rules and procedures, being co-opted for potentially anticompetitive purposes.
February 18, 2014
Earlier today, the German antitrust authority (Bundeskartellamt) announced that it had fined Germany’s three largest sugar manufacturers € 280 million in a market division / output restriction cartel case (see: Bundeskartellamt Imposes Fines on Sugar Manufacturers). According to the Bundeskartellamt, the infringements related to an agreement among the three manufacturers over about a fifteen-year period to limit German sugar sales to their respective home sales areas and export sugar rather than sell to customers within competitors’ sales areas.
February 17, 2014
Want your say in the ongoing Quebec competition/corruption law probe? The Charbonneau Commission has issued a call for public input on “stopping corruption” in Quebec. According to media releases earlier today (see e.g.: Charbonneau Commission calls for public input on halting corruption), public commentators have until June 20, 2014 and may send submit suggestions via the Charbonneau Inquiry’s website (see: here).
February 17, 2014
Helping their clients understand (and take steps to avoid) competition/antitrust law cartels is top of the list for outside and in-house competition counsel. The detection and enforcement of competition law cartels has also continued to receive increased enforcement attention in the past few years, both in Canada over the terms of the last two Commissioners of competition, as well as international antitrust agencies, notably in the EU and U.S.
January 29, 2014
Jarod Bona over at The Antitrust Attorney Blog has written a very good new note on competition law compliance and real estate services, and in particular some commonsense steps that real estate salespeople can take to avoid competition law risk. Given that many of the points discussed, including the importance of independently setting commissions, determining where to work (and for whom), the submission of bids (e.g., in the real estate foreclosure auction context) and dealing with competitors, apply equally in Canada, I thought I would reprint his note here (with permission).
January 13, 2014
Earlier today, the German antitrust authority (the Bundeskartellamt) announced that $145 million in fines had been imposed against five beer manufacturers and seven individuals in a beer price-fixing case (see: First fines imposed in cartel proceedings against breweries).
January 2, 2014
On my daily media sweep earlier today, this interesting Competition Bureau contribution to an OECD study on competition and gasoline caught my eye (OECD Policy Roundtables – Competition in Road Fuel (2013)). Given Canadian consumers’ apparent continued consternation with gas prices, this is a fairly interesting and timely read I thought.
Templates/precedents and checklists to run promotional contests in Canada
Templates/precedents and checklists to comply with Canadian anti-spam law (CASL)
