Most people who know about that case are mistaken about certain crucial facts. The collusion was that some companies agreed not to cold call each other's employ

Most people who know about that case are mistaken about certain crucial facts. The collusion was that some companies agreed not to cold call each other's employees.[1] Hiring was still allowed, as were other recruiting methods such as e-mail or LinkedIn messages. The particularly nasty bit of collusion was between Apple and a few other companies (Google, Adobe, Pixar). This collusion only happened because of Steve Jobs's vindictive personality combined with interlocking directorates[2]: Jobs was on the board of Pixar, and Google & Adobe executives were on Apple's board. Despite Jobs's best efforts, the collusion fell apart after only 4 years because the companies kept poaching from each other. It was over a year later that the DoJ filed its first complaint. Despite what most people think, it's really hard for companies to cartelize. There is a massive incentive for any one member of the cartel to pretend to collude while secretly not colluding. Typically, such arrangements fall apart unless there is a governing body that can sniff out and punish defectors. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_Litigation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_L... 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlocking_directorate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interlocking_directorate