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Having a monopoly might put you under the microscope, but you certainly can't get away with anticompetitive practices like price fixing or wage fixing even if y
by brianpgordon 12y ago
Having a monopoly might put you under the microscope, but you certainly can't get away with anticompetitive practices like price fixing or wage fixing even if you don't have a monopoly.
- jahewson 12y agoYes but those are just about the only things which you can't get away with. The US has very weak consumer protection laws in general.
- LordKano 12y agoCollusion. Retail price maintenance. Dividing territories. Exclusive dealing. These are all anti-competitive behavior that will get one smacked by Federal regulators without being a monopoly.
- moskie 12y agoCan you link to specific examples of companies being found guilty of those things, where the company was not a monopoly, or part of an oligopoly?
- moskie 12y agoCan you link to specific examples of companies being found guilty of things like price fixing and wage fixing, where the company was not a monopoly, or part of an oligopoly?
- brianpgordon 12y agoWell there's this case, which got a lot of HN coverage: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/01/16/silicon_valley_415m_wage_fix_pacts_settlement/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/01/16/silicon_valley_415m_...
- moskie 12y agoLooks you're correct, thanks. Reading up on this a bit, I was wondering if Apple/Google/Intel/Adobe/etc constituted an oligopoly, but I don't see how that could true in this case. Also reading up on the Sherman Antitrust Act (which is what they were in violation of), the section that applied here does not require a monopoly or oligopoly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Antitrust_Act#Elements http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Antitrust_Act#Elements