Ticketmaster is an evil monopoly that steals cash from defenseless consumers. They are infinitely more evil than their hated 30% surcharge would suggest, and they must be destroyed.
antitrust
Congress Asks Wireless Carriers To Justify Text Message Rate Increases
By 9.10.08
The similar price increases, coming at similar times, Kohl said, “is hardly consistent with the vigorous price competition we hope to see in a competitive marketplace.”
Man Files Antitrust Suit Against Time Warner Over Forced Cable Box Rentals
By 8.13.08
Matthew Meeds of Fairway, Kansas, doesn’t want to pay Time Warner Cable a monthly rental fee for his cable box—he’d rather own one outright. He’s filed suit against the cable provider and its parent company, Time Warner, Inc., accusing them of establishing an illegal tying arrangement by making the box rental a condition of the subscription agreement. He’s seeking class-action status for all TWC premium customers in Kansas.
Settlement In BA-VA Price-Fixing Class Action
By 8.6.08
You’re entitled to a small refund if you bought tickets for a long haul flight on British Airways or Virgin Atlantic between August 11, 2004 and March 23, 2006. The amount is $7-$34 per flight taken. This is the settlement in a class action lawsuit contending the two airlines colluded to fix the price of fuel surcharges. More info at airpassengerrefund.com. [via RickSeaney]
By 7.21.08
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Email surfaced in a class action lawsuit against NVIDIA and ATI suggesting that the graphics card makers have engaged in illegal price-fixing for the past half-decade. [techPowerUp!]
Grocery Shrink Ray Hits Faultless Spray Starch
By 7.16.08
Mark says he’s found fault with Faultless spray starch. The bottle shrunk by two ounces and is being sold for the same price, another victim of the Grocery Shrink Ray. Compare the products here and here. What’s interesting is that when he called his mom, she said she had a different brand of starch spray. It too had shrunk by two ounces. Could manufacturers be colluding together to all decrease their products by the same amount at the same time? I’ve heard of price-fixing, but what about the legality of size-fixing? In any event, Mark emailed customer service about the new package. Their cheery reply, inside…
Today Is The Last Day To Join The DeBeers Diamond Class-Action Settlement
By 5.19.08
If you bought a diamond between January 1, 1994 and March 31, 2006, today is the last day to join the DeBeers class action settlement. It doesn’t matter whether or not the diamond was bought from DeBeers, the diamond could have been bought from anywhere. The lawsuit contends that DeBeers uses its monopoly over most of the world’s diamond mines to artificially inflate the price of diamonds and engages in other anti-competitive behaviors as well. It’s expected that around $135,432,500 will be divided amongst all the eligible consumers. You can file claims online here.
Customer Files Class-Action Suit Against HP & Staples, Charging Printer Ink Price Collusion
By 12.20.07
Ranjit Bedi, a Californian, has filed a lawsuit against Hewlett-Packard and Staples in a U.S. District Court in Boston, accusing the two companies of colluding to prevent the sale of third-party ink cartridges in Staples stores. Bedi is accusing HP of paying Staples over $100 million to get it to stop selling lower-priced ink refills, but none of the news sources we found supply any evidence to support that figure, so we hope Bedi has more than just a gut feeling about this.
Consumer Groups Ask FTC Head To Recuse Herself
By 12.13.07
Two consumer groups have asked Deborah Platt Majoras, the chair of the FTC, to recuse herself from the antitrust review of Google’s purchase of Doubleclick. Majoras is married to a partner at Jones Day law firm, which represents Doubleclick.
Google Says It's Looking Into New Privacy Technologies
By 9.28.07
Google is looking into new ways to protect the privacy of its huge number of users, says their chief legal officer. These include “crumbled cookies,” which spread a user’s information out so that it’s not connected to a single piece of code, and providing better information on the source of each ad that’s served.
FTC Says Gas Was Expensive Last Year Because Of Market Forces, Not Price Gouging
By 9.5.07
You can stop worrying about whether or not you got screwed by the gas industry. The Federal Trade Commission announced late last week that they’ve found no evidence of price gouging during 2006, when the average price of gas rose above $3 per gallon. Or as one oil industry spokesman puts it (tactlessly, for a spokesman), “It’s difficult for the average American to understand market forces, but that is what’s ultimately in play with this industry.”
3 Consumer Groups Speak Out Against Whole Foods/Wild Oats Marriage
By 8.10.07
Three consumer groups have filed an amicus brief on behalf of the FTC, which has moved to block Whole Foods’ attempt to purchase rival Wild Oats. A federal judge is expected to rule on the case soon; in the meantime, Whole Foods earlier today extended its offer to Wild Oats until August 15th. Omg this is totally like when Heidi decided to move in with Spencer on The Hills! (We had to go to Wikipedia to write that sentence.)
Whole Foods CEO Caught Bashing Wild Oats Stock On Yahoo Forums
By 7.12.07
Back in 2005, when the (currently being opposed by the FTC) Whole Foods/Wild Oats merger was just a glint in the Whole Foods CEO’s eye… John “Anonymous Troll” Mackey was on Yahoo! forums bashing Wild Oats stock.
Microsoft Settles Class Action Lawsuit Vs Iowa
By 2.14.07
The Iowa antitrust case gained notoriety for the now famous “If I didn’t work here, I’d buy a Mac” e-mail sent by Microsoft executive Jim Allchin, who is now retired. The Microsoft in-house e-mail from 2004 received some notice after it was released as part of Microsoft’s document production for the case.
This lawsuit was one of the last state anti-trust lawsuits left unsettled, and Bill Gates was scheduled to testify. Alas.—MEGHANN MARCO
iTunes Lawsuit: iPod Software is “Crippleware”
By 1.4.07
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has posted a PDF of the complaint in the iTunes/iPod lawsuit. Here are some choice quotes:
DOJ Smacks Subpoenas Down On Music Industry
By 3.3.06
Surprise, surprise. The Department of Justice has started issuing subpoenas against the music industry, including Sony BMG and Warner, for price fixing and collusion. Since it’s a sloppy Reuters brief we’re linking to here, mainly consisting of a list of the companies involved, here’s a blockquote with the summary gyst:
