price fixing

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Jury Finds Egg Producers Conspired to Reduce Supply

Defendants included Rose Acre Farms, the family company of Senate candidate John Rust

(Newser) - An Illinois jury ruled this week that several major egg producers conspired to limit the country's supply of eggs in order to raise prices in a case stemming from a federal lawsuit originally filed 12 years ago, per the AP . Kraft Foods, the Kellogg Company, General Mills, and Nestle...

One of America's Top Chicken Industry CEOs Indicted

Pilgrim's Pride CEO Jayson Penn indicted on price-fixing charges, along with 3 others

(Newser) - One of America's top chicken industry CEOs could be caged for up to 10 years as part of a federal antitrust investigation. Pilgrim's Pride CEO Jayson Penn was indicted Wednesday along with former company vice president Roger Austin for alleged price-fixing, the Wall Street Journal reports. Mikell Fries,...

Ex-Bumble Bee Tuna CEO Guilty of Price-Fixing

Prosecutors say he oversaw conspiracy

(Newser) - The former CEO of Bumble Bee Foods was convicted Tuesday for his part in a canned tuna price-fixing conspiracy involving the industry's top three companies. A jury in San Francisco found Christopher Lischewski guilty after a four-week trial, the US Department of Justice said in a release. He had...

Tuna Price Conspiracy Will Cost StarKist $100M

Company ordered to pay fine over 5 years

(Newser) - A federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday ordered StarKist Co. to pay a $100 million fine in a canned tuna price-fixing conspiracy involving the industry's top three companies. The Pittsburgh-based company was also sentenced to 13 months of probation. The tuna giant had asked US District Court Judge...

States Bring Price-Fixing Suit Against Generic Drug Makers

More than 40 states are involved

(Newser) - Attorneys general from more than 40 states are alleging the nation's largest generic drug manufacturers conspired to artificially inflate and manipulate prices for more than 100 different generic drugs, including treatments for diabetes, cancer, arthritis, and other medical conditions, the AP reports. The lawsuit, filed in federal court Friday,...

StarKist to Plead Guilty in Tuna Price Conspiracy

Company faces fine of up to $100M

(Newser) - StarKist Co. agreed to plead guilty to a felony price fixing charge as part of a broad collusion investigation of the canned tuna industry, the Department of Justice announced Thursday. The DOJ said StarKist faces up to a $100 million fine when it is sentenced. Prosecutors say the industry's...

Justice Department Wants to Clamp Down on iTunes

E-book price-fixing case spills over into Apple's other media businesses

(Newser) - The Justice Department is out to make sure that Apple never again fixes the price of e-books —or anything else for that matter. It's asked a judge to ban Apple "from entering into agreements with suppliers of e-books, music, movies, television shows, or other content" on iTunes...

Apple Guilty of E-Book Price-Fixing: Judge

Court rules company conspired with publishers to jack up prices

(Newser) - The verdict in the Apple e-book price-fixing trial is in: the company did conspire with publishing companies to push up prices, says a federal judge. "The plaintiffs have shown that the publisher defendants conspired with each other to eliminate retail price competition in order to raise e-book prices, and...

Chocolate Prices Rigged: Canada

Nestle, Mars charged; Hershey already expected to plead

(Newser) - The Canadian branches of Nestlé and Mars were both slapped with criminal charges yesterday, with Canada's Competition Bureau accusing both of price-fixing the chocolate market following a 5-year investigation. Hershey was also party to the scheme, which dates to 2007 and earlier, but the bureau recommended leniency because it...

Apple Faces Uphill Battle as Price-Fixing Trial Begins

Judge expects 'direct evidence' of 'conspiracy'

(Newser) - Apple's federal court battle over e-book price fixing begins today, and the company has a tough case to make, observes the Wall Street Journal . The government's claim: Apple made deals with five publishers to boost the prices of e-books before the iPad's 2010 launch. "Stripped of...

Europe Raids Big Oil Firms, Looking for Price Rigging

BP, Shell, and Statoil involved

(Newser) - European authorities raided the offices of BP, Shell, Statoil, and other companies involved in the oil business yesterday, as part of an investigation into what they suspect is a more than decade-old conspiracy to rig oil prices. The European Commission said it had launched "unannounced inspections" of oil company...

Amazon Grabs Major e-Book Win

Get ready for $9.99 e-books

(Newser) - An e-book price-fixing settlement is a victory for Amazon—and could pave the way to lower prices for consumers. A federal judge has approved a settlement between three publishers and the Justice Department after officials argued that a total of five publishers were teaming up with Apple to boost prices...

It Might Cost a Little More to Use Your Credit Card
It Might Cost a Little More
to Use Your Credit Card
$6B settlement
Jul 14, 2012 6:22 AM CDT

It Might Cost a Little More to Use Your Credit Card

Merchants win right to add surcharge in huge case

(Newser) - Retailers scored a big win versus credit card companies yesterday, settling a seven-year-long lawsuit for $6 billion, plus fees relief that could reach $1.2 billion, reports the Wall Street Journal . Visa, MasterCard, and several large banks agreed to the deal, which will give merchants the option of charging customers...

Barclays Chair Resigns Over Rate-Fixing Scandal

Company promises 'root and branch' investigation

(Newser) - Barclays Chairman Marcus Agius resigned today in penance for the company's $453 million settlement in an interest rate manipulation probe. The scandal "dealt a devastating blow to Barclays' reputation," Agius said. "As chairman, I am the ultimate guardian of the bank's reputation." The bank...

DOJ Should Have Gone After Amazon, Not Apple
DOJ Should Have Gone
After Amazon, Not Apple
OPINION
Apr 16, 2012 12:31 PM CDT

DOJ Should Have Gone After Amazon, Not Apple

Price-fixing lawsuit focuses on wrong targets: David Carr

(Newser) - When the Justice Department decided to take on "the monopolistic monolith that threatened to dominate the book industry," it chose the wrong targets —five large publishers plus minor e-book player Apple—while ignoring the all-powerful Amazon, writes a dumbfounded David Carr in the New York Times . "...

Apple: We Didn't Fix E-Book Prices

Publishers in charge of iBookstore prices: firm

(Newser) - The Justice Department's allegations of an e-book pricing conspiracy at Apple are "simply not true," the tech giant says, according to Reuters . "The launch of the iBookstore in 2010 fostered innovation and competition, breaking Amazon's monopolistic grip on the publishing industry," an Apple rep...

Feds May Smack Apple With Ebook Suit Today
Feds Sue Apple Over
E-book Price Fixing
UPDATED
Apr 11, 2012 10:41 AM CDT

Feds Sue Apple Over E-book Price Fixing

Allege Apple deal with publishers drove up prices

(Newser) - The Justice Department has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple and five of the US' biggest book publishers over allegations that they conspired to fix the price of e-books ahead of the iPad's launch, the Wall Street Journal reports. The conspiracy allegedly aimed to drive up prices, which had...

US to Go After Apple, Others Over E-Book 'Price Fixing'

Apple, publishers set up across-the-board prices: feds

(Newser) - The US Justice Department has informed Apple and five top publishes that federal attorneys are ready to go to court to prosecute them on charges that they colluded to boost e-book prices, sources tell the Wall Street Journal . Some of the companies are already in settlement discussions with the feds,...

Italy Raids Pasta Makers in Price-Fixing Probe

Companies accused of colluding to drive prices up 36%

(Newser) - Financial police have searched the offices of Italy’s top five pasta makers to investigate claims that they’ve rigged the price of rigatoni—and you know, other pasta, too (rigatoni was just alliterative). The investigation has been ongoing since 2007, after consumer groups complained that prices were up as...

Cybercops Bust Retailers Whose Deals Are Too Good

(Newser) - Manufacturers have gone on the offensive to stop discounters from selling their products for less than the minimum advertised price they set, reports the Wall Street Journal. But companies like eBay and Costco are pushing for laws to ban the minimum prices. Some retailers, like Circuit City, use workarounds to...

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