It has always mattered. Illegality drives up risk, businesses seek to minimize risk. The flip side is that if something is illegal but the perceived risk of be

It has always mattered. Illegality drives up risk, businesses seek to minimize risk. The flip side is that if something is illegal but the perceived risk of being caught is lower than the perceived gain, the laws are likely to be broken. That's why fines to businesses tend to be quite steep. Of course in this case, there was no risk, as cartels were legal at the time.