EU Issues Largest Antitrust Fine to Date for CRT TV Price Fixing 153
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.'"
People still buy tube TVs? (Score:2, Insightful)
Politicians don't have better things to worry about?
Re:People still buy tube TVs? (Score:4, Insightful)
If they did it once they will do it again.. (and they did)
Re:People still buy tube TVs? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:People still buy tube TVs? (Score:3, Insightful)
Why bother prosecuting a murder? The victim is dead anyway!
Re:People still buy tube TVs? (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:People still buy tube TVs? (Score:5, Insightful)
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?
Re:People still buy tube TVs? (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Re:Why!? (Score:5, Insightful)
Next time you vote, make sure it's for someone that doesn't have a (D) or an (R) next to their name. That's how.