Tom Roper |
October 6th, 2009 08:30 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry Posner
(Post 1422152)
True. The Sony Unified Resale Execution (SURE) program went into effect June 2008. At Sony Adds New Premium-Goods Sales Policy - 2008-05-05 06:00:00 | TWICE there's an article describing the program from Twice magazine. In a nutshell, the MAP (Min Advertised Price) is now also the min selling price for many of their products. They enforce the program vigorously.
|
Price fixing was always a criminal offense under section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. In August of 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that vertical price fixing by a manufacturer and its retailers, also known as retail price maintenance, is not a per se violation.
Colluding on price amongst competitors, also known as horizontal price fixing, is viewed as a per se violation of the Sherman Act regardless of the market impact or alleged efficiency of the action.
So if retailers colluded to fix prices, that would be a horizontal violation, but by having Sony enforcing retail price maintenance, it removes the collusion amongst competitors. I personally feel this is wrong, and it would have been illegal for the 218 years before August 2008.
|