Civil Non-Merger Highlights :: Antitrust Lawyer Blog
July 16, 2008

EU TO EXPAND INTEL ANTITRUST INVESTIGATION

On July 16, 2008, the European Commission (“EC”) announced that it would expand its investigation of the Intel Corporation by filing new antitrust charges. The charges allege that Intel provides inducements, such as discounts, rebates, and marketing payments, to computer manufactures discouraging them to use chips made by Intel’s smaller rival Advanced Micro Devices (“AMD”). Intel’s ubiquitous x86 chips are found in 75 percent of all personal computers and low-cost servers.

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June 2, 2008

DELAWARE JUDGE UNSEALS COMPLAINT AGAINST YAHOO’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS

On June 2, 2008 Chancellor William B. Chandler III of Delaware decided to unseal the complaint in a case brought by two pension fund shareholder groups against Yahoo and its Board of Directors. The plaintiffs accused the Yahoo Board of Directors, especially CEO Jerry Yang, of violating their fiduciary duties and enacting barriers such as a severance package for employees to thwart an acquisition by Microsoft.

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January 6, 2008

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE CONTRACTORS ARRESTED FOR CONSPIRING TO STEAL INFORMATION ON FUEL SUPPLY CONTRACTS

Two U.S. Department of Defense (“DOD”) contractors were arrested in New York City on January 6, 2008, and charged with conspiring to steal information relating to DOD contracts to supply fuel to DOD aircraft worldwide. Two contractor firms and a third individual are also charged with participating in the conspiracies. The Department said the conspiracies took place from about February 2005 to about July 2006.

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November 10, 2007

GUILTY PLEA IN BID RIGGING AND FRAUD AT NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL

On November 7, 2007, the Department of Justice announced that Mister A.C. Ltd. (Mister A.C.), a Rockville Center, N.Y. heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) services company and its owner, Michael Vignola, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Manhattan for rigging bids to NYPH from approximately 2002 until January of 2006. Mr. Vignola also pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud NYPH by paying kickbacks to NYPH employees from approximately 2001 until January 2006.

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September 22, 2007

FTC ADVISES ROCHESTER PHYSICIAN ORGINIZATION IT WILL NOT RECOMMEND ANTITRUST CHALLENGE TO PROPOSAL FOR "CLINICAL INTEGRATION" PROGRAM

On September 21, 2007, Federal Trade Commission advised the Greater Rochester Independent Practice Association, Inc. (GRIPA), that it had no present intention to challenge the organization’s planned conversion to a non-exclusive physician network joint venture. GRIPA requested a staff advisory opinion regarding its proposal to combine and coordinate the provision of medical services to patients.

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January 8, 2007

FTC Sues Payment Processor That Took Millions From Consumers’ Bank Accounts Without Their Knowledge

On January 8th, a payment processor violated federal law when it debited, or tried to debit, more than $9.9 million from consumers’ bank accounts – at $139 each – without their approval. According to a complaint the FTC filed in federal court, Nevada-based InterBill Ltd. acted on behalf of a fraudulent enterprise known as “Pharmacycards.com.” In 2004 the FTC charged Pharmacycards with debiting millions of dollars from consumers’ checking accounts, without their consent, for nonexistent discount pharmacy cards.

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January 4, 2007

Federal Trade Commission Reaches New Year’s Resolutions with Four Major Weight-Control Pill Marketers

The FTC filed complaints on January 4th, in four separate cases alleging that weight-loss and weight-control claims were not supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence. Marketers of the four products –Xenadrine EFX, CortiSlim, TrimSpa, and One-A-Day WeightSmart –settled with the FTC, surrendered cash and other assets worth at least $25 million, and agreed to limit their future advertising claims.

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December 29, 2006

FTC Charges Chicago-Area Doctor Groups with Price Fixing

On December 29, the Federal Trade Commission announced its decision to challenge the conduct of several organizations representing more than 2,900 independent Chicago-area physicians for agreeing to fix prices and for refusing to deal with certain health plans except on collectively determined terms. The FTC’s complaint charges that the actions of Advocate Health Partners (“AHP”) and other related parties unreasonably restrained competition in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act. The consent order settling the FTC’s charges prohibit the respondents from engaging in such anticompetitive conduct in the future.

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November 28, 2006

FTC Targets Bogus Claims for Pill Advertised to Make Kids Taller

On November 28, a Florida business and its owner, who marketed purported height-enhancing pills for kids and young adults, agreed to pay $375,000 to settle charges that their advertising claims were deceptive. The Federal Trade Commission charged the defendants with making false and unsubstantiated claims for HeightMax, as well as for two other supplements, Liposan Ultra Chitosan Fat Blocker and Osteo-Vite.

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November 16, 2006

Guidance Software Inc. Settles FTC Charges

On November 16, Guidance Software Inc. agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that its failure to take reasonable security measures to protect sensitive customer data contradicted security promises made on its Web site and violated federal law. According to the FTC, Guidance’s data-security failure allowed hackers to access sensitive credit card information for thousands of consumers. The settlement will require the company to implement a comprehensive information-security program and obtain audits by an independent third-party security professional every other year for 10 years.

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November 14, 2006

Mary Beth Richards Appointed Deputy Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras announced on November 14 that Mary Beth Richards will join the agency as Deputy Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. Richards comes to the FTC from the Federal Communications Commission, where she served as Deputy Bureau Chief and Chief of Staff in the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau.

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November 13, 2006

Court Shuts Down Media Motor Spyware Operation

On November 13, a U.S. District Court shut down an operation that secretly downloaded multiple malevolent software programs, including spyware, onto millions of computers without consumers’ consent, degrading their computers’ performance, spying on them, and exposing them to a barrage of disruptive advertisements. The Federal Trade Commission asked the court to order a permanent halt to these deceptive and unfair downloads, and to order the outfit to give up its ill-gotten gains.

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November 6, 2006

Marketer Settles With FTC for Sending Unwanted E-Mails

A company that sent unsolicited commercial e-mail after consumers asked it to stop agreed to pay a $50,717 civil penalty on November 6 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated federal law. The FTC charged Yesmail Inc., doing business as @Once Corporation, with sending e-mail on behalf of its clients more than 10 business days after recipients asked it to stop.

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November 3, 2006

Zango, Inc. Settles FTC Charges

On November 3, Zango, Inc., formerly known as 180solutions, Inc., one of the world’s largest distributors of adware, and two principals agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they used unfair and deceptive methods to download adware and obstruct consumers from removing it, in violation of federal law. The settlement bars future downloads of Zango’s adware without consumers’ consent, requires Zango to provide a way for consumers to remove the adware, and requires them to give up $3 million in ill-gotten gains.

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October 5, 2006

Telephone Record Seller Settles FTC Charges

On October 5, an Internet business that advertised and sold consumers’ phone records and records of credit card accounts to third parties agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated federal law. The settlement bars the defendants from obtaining or selling consumers’ confidential phone and credit account records unless authorized by law or court order’ and requires that they give up the money they made selling phone records in the past.

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September 27, 2006

FTC Warns Advertisers and Media That Ads May Be Deceptive

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) sent letters on September 27, 2006 to 166 advertisers and 77 media outlets warning them that their advertisements targeting Hispanics are potentially deceptive. The ads were spotted during a one-day surf of Spanish-language newspaper, magazine, Internet, radio, and television advertisements by 60 partners around the United States and Latin America, coordinated by the FTC.

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