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EU Issues Largest Antitrust Fine to Date for CRT TV Price Fixing
hankwang writes "The European commission fined a number manufacturers for pricing fixing of cathode ray tubes in the period between 1996 and 2005. The total fine was EUR 1.47 billion (USD 1.92 billion), for Philips, LG Electronics, Samsung SDI, and three other firms. According to the European Commission: 'For almost 10 years, the cartelists carried out the most harmful anti-competitive practices including price fixing, market sharing, customer allocation, capacity and output coordination and exchanges of commercial sensitive information. The cartelists also monitored the implementation, including auditing compliance with the capacity restrictions by plant visits in the case of the computer monitor tubes cartel.'"
If they did it once they will do it again.. (and they did)
How does this actually help someone who's bought a TV or monitor during this time? Most people probably won't have the receipts for these TVs or monitors now, and in many cases have probably already thrown them out or given them away to make room for an LCD replacement...
It's a deterrent: if none takes action they'll go on with these practices with something else (LCD, Plasma, Hard Disks... everything).
Why bother prosecuting a murder? The victim is dead anyway!
And most of these same companies are in fact implicated in LCD price fixing.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
This is what governments are for, to protect the people with legislation (treaties in EU case) and uphold them. One of those being price fixing, collusion and anti-trust.
So, they upheld their treaties by punishing those that broke them. They did their job.
What would it take for us Americans to get a government that favors individuals over corporations? Perhaps a new
Supreme Court? The current one seems to think that corporations are people.
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
Governments are set up to do more than one thing at a time. And, yes, people still use CRT TVs and monitors, and, more importantly, they still did between 1996 and 2005, the time period of the actions which are the subject of these sanctions. Major prosecutions take time.
The consumer will pay the fines in higher prices. Take the boards and the CEOs responsible to jail if you want to make a dent in this, all the fines will do is tack on a fine tax to their products. Thanks.
This is what governments are for, to protect the people with legislation (treaties in EU case) and uphold them. One of those being price fixing, collusion and anti-trust.
So, they upheld their treaties by punishing those that broke them. They did their job.
The problem is, that the people are not protected. All of this happened back in the 90's and anyone who bought a tube monitor or TV
has already been impacted by this. But waiting 20 years to fine these guys (they are also being fined by the US, Korea, Japan), does nothing
to put money back in your pocket. It will all go to government, and be squandered on something that doesn't offset any of the tax you pay.
Meanwhile, these companies are no longer making tubes, some are near bankruptcy anyway, and the others can pay this out of chump change.
Where were these concerned government officials when everyone was selling CRTs at virtually identical prices?
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
You mean those same companies that are now selling LCD TVs at virtually identical prices?
Hmmm, wonder what a huge fine for similar behavior might have?
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
On one hand, the suits associated with the behaviors past, should happen. They caused damage to consumers and to product makers. But at the same time, it somehow feels like various parties are scraping for extra cash and are seeking what I would consider to be 'last resort' means and methods to get it.
It feels like someone within the upper tiers of the economy know something the rest of us don't (and that would be an economic collapse never seen before in human history) or that this is business as usual and I just never noticed it to this degree before.
I recall the tremors I felt just prior to the most recent collapse. Banks were scrambling for fees and things... charging for every little thing that might be considered a service or courtesy. They knew what was coming and all the signs I saw made perfect sense once things became public. Fortunately, my brother saw it too and shifted his 401K to bonds and stuff like that so he didn't lose out at all.
I see all these legal suits over technology as the precursor to something bigger, hairier and darker. Just not quite sure what it is just yet, but it will achieve some critical mass at some point in the near future I think. The current level of activity is certainly not sustainable.
So this is what now? The 4th price fixing cartel spanning the late 90s and early 2000s that Samsung has been a part of? But since they make Android phones we'll just ignore that while painting Apple as evil, right?
Philips, LG Electronics, Samsung SDI,
Sony was one of the top players for CRT during that this time. Somehow they managed to stay out of it. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that all companies are pulling this kind of shit. Some are just better at not getting caught than others.
Legal punishment is by definition retro-active. Companies need to be able to protect themselves against false accusations, and governments need to be able to actually prove their claims. This takes time. This is also why this is a fine.
As for the usage of the money: this obviously becomes part of the budget, which (in the EU case) means most of it goes back into the member states. Your wild claim about squandering is unfounded. The money goes to where it should be. Are governments inefficient? Yes. Does that mean the money disappears? No. If you know everything so well, come up with a better system and push for it to become law.
I wish some other industries would fix prices and exploit us poor consumers the way the computer hardware industry exploits us.
Then shoes, office chairs, etc would be much cheaper, be of better quality, last at least 3-5 years on average and come with a 1-3 year warranty.
I don't care what others say - LCD's, LED's, and Plasma Panels just can't provide the softness and warmth of a CRT. They will never go out of style.
Don't mess with The Phone Company. Piss them off and you'll be using two tin cans and a piece of string.
Europe is not one jurisdiction, we are still 50 separate countries, and 27 of those are within the European Union.
Those 27 countries have their own legal systems from British Common Law to German Civil Law. The EU is only a "federal" framework, the nations rule themselves. There are various forms of suits and some have "class action" options (see the EU and Collective Redress). Our national courts are far less willing or able to hand out billions of Euros. Tort in Europe in general does not result in huge personal gains.
In my jurisdiction you can only sue for actual financial losses, that were caused by the action in question. Your feelings are worthless, your lost income will be compensated, but mostly by existing public/private insurance. The difference between those figures is what the wrongdoer ends up paying.
That fact works in our citizens' favor. You can't sue your doctor or employer and expect to become a millionaire for either your own stupidity or actual wrong doing. You can have someone justly punished for their errors, but it's not about rewarding people. Doctors insurance is a lot less costly in European countries. You will be taken care of however no matter what the outcome.
Obviously it's a bit different with monopolies and price fixing, but the fines will go towards financing schools and roads etc. That's more in line with how European societies are organized.