CompetitionRSS

  • July 3, 2007

    Group Warns Kroes About Google, Doubleclick Deal

    A European consumer association has sent a letter to European Commission Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, warning her that the proposed merger of Google Inc. and online advertising firm Doubleclick Inc. may limit competition.

  • July 2, 2007

    EU Implements Roaming Regulation

    In what the European Commission has called “one of the fastest ever political agreements between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission,” the European Union has implemented a policy that caps mobile phone roaming rates across Europe.

  • July 2, 2007

    World Bank Probes Siemens Contracts

    The World Bank has reportedly launched an investigation into international engineering firm Siemens AG to determine whether it paid the company inflated prices for work on a power plant in Pakistan in the 1990s, and for other contracts.

  • July 2, 2007

    Compliance Down, Infringement Up For EU States

    European Union member states have fallen behind on implementing internal market directives, resulting in an increase in the number of legislative proceedings, according to the results of a recent European Commission survey.

  • July 2, 2007

    EC Warns Austria, Ireland, Italy Over Price Floors

    The European Commission has issued a formal warning to Austria, Ireland and Italy over legislation that sets a minimum price for cigarettes, telling the member states that if they do not amend the regulations, the Commission will initiate litigation.

  • July 2, 2007

    Judge Greenlights Becton Dickinson Antitrust Suit

    A federal judge has denied requests from Becton Dickinson & Co. to dismiss three complaints filed by direct and indirect purchasers alleging that the medical technology company violated antitrust laws in the sale of hypodermic products.

  • July 2, 2007

    Plaintiffs Fight Dismissal In Broker Class Action

    The plaintiffs in a dual-pronged consolidated antitrust case against numerous insurers and brokers including Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. and American International Group Inc. filed amended complaints Friday reiterating their allegations that the defendants conspired to eliminate competition and reap supra-competitive profits.

  • July 2, 2007

    Suit Alleges OPEC Price-Fixing On Oil In U.S.

    Foreign oil wholesalers OAO Lukoil, Saudi Arabian Oil Co. and Petroleos de Venezuela SA have been hit with a proposed class action alleging that, as members of OPEC, they have colluded to limit the supply of refined petroleum products and keep prices high since the 1980s.

  • July 2, 2007

    EC Calls For Nestle To Divest In Novartis Union

    The European Commission has allowed Nestle to acquire Novartis Medical Nutrition for $2.5 billion, but only after the companies agreed to sell businesses in France and Spain.

  • June 29, 2007

    Despite Setbacks, DRAM Plaintiffs Amend Complaint

    A few weeks after a judge tossed most of the claims in an ongoing antitrust case against Dynamic Random Access Memory manufacturers, the indirect purchasers in the multidistrict litigation have amended their complaint.

  • June 29, 2007

    Airlines Bid For Transatlantic Antitrust Immunity

    Delta Air Lines Inc., Northwest Airlines Corp. and four other SkyTeam Alliance members have asked the U.S. Department of Transportation for antitrust immunity on their transatlantic routes in the first application lodged with the agency since the European Union and the U.S. signed an open skies treaty.

  • June 29, 2007

    Dey Buries Hatchet With States In Drug Pricing Suit

    The states of Montana and Nevada have reached a settlement with Dey Inc., one of a slew of pharmaceutical companies involved in a massive antitrust class action alleging that the companies defrauded consumers by artificially inflating the prices of various prescription drugs.

  • June 29, 2007

    EU Revokes Airline Association's Antitrust Exemption

    The European Commission has revoked an antitrust exemption that shielded the International Air Transport Association, a group of airlines that sets prices on trips involving multiple carriers, from antitrust laws.

  • June 29, 2007

    EU Member States Gear Up For Energy Deregulation

    After years of discussion, the European Union plan to open energy markets will finally come to fruition as Member States begin the deregulation process on July 1.

  • June 29, 2007

    Zurich American Plaintiffs Appeal Attorneys' Fees

    Two members of the plaintiff class in a massive antitrust suit against several major insurance companies have objected to the nearly $30 million that Zurich American Insurance Co. has been ordered to pay to plaintiffs attorneys on top of its $121.8 million settlement.

  • June 29, 2007

    University Housing System Is Not A Monopoly: Judge

    Universities have the right to control the housing that's available to students and to compel fraternities and sororities to cede authority of their houses to the school's administration, a district court judge has ruled, rejecting a fraternity's charges that such policies are monopolistic.

  • June 28, 2007

    FTC Urges Caution On Net Neutrality Regulations

    The Federal Trade Commission weighed in on the contentious issue of “net neutrality” on Wednesday, warning policy makers not to rush to restrict the behavior of Internet service providers.

  • June 28, 2007

    Judge Nixes Google Bid To Extend Microsoft Probation

    A federal judge handed Google Inc. a defeat Tuesday, saying that she would not currently consider the search-engine company's recent request that governmental oversight of Microsoft Corp. be extended through November 2009.

  • June 28, 2007

    Judge Tosses Zone Pricing Suit In The 11th Hour

    Six gas station owners who claimed that Shell Co. charged them more for gas in order to make them become Shell-owned stations have lost their fight against the company, after a district court judge dismissed their lawsuit in the final days of the trial.

  • June 28, 2007

    Court Stays Plastic Additives Action

    A Pennsylvania court has put a class action suit against a group of plastic additive manufacturers on hold while the defendants, who are accused of conspiring to fix prices, wait for a higher court to decide their appeal of the plaintiffs' class certification.