Re: The European Commission on Friday accused Intel of abusing its dominant position in PC microprocessors, alleging it was offering its chips at below cost and inducing computer makers not to use those of Advanced Micro Devices.
That's merely the latest case of the EU's cartel-busting campaign....
Given this background, one could infer, if one did not know it already, the general structure of Oceanic society. At the apex of the pyramid comes Free Trade. Free Trade is infallible and all-powerful. Every success, every achievement, every victory, every scientific discovery, all knowledge, all wisdom, all happiness, all virtue, are held to issue directly from its leadership and inspiration. Nobody has ever seen Free Trade. It is a face on the hoardings, a voice on the telescreen. We may be reasonably sure that it will never die, and there is already considerable uncertainty as to when it was born. Free Trade is the guise in which the Technocracy chooses to exhibit itself to the world. Its function is to act as a focusing point for love, fear, and reverence, emotions which are more easily felt towards a principle than towards an organization.
Adapted from 1984, G. Orwell.
( Subject 33609 )
Record EU fine for lift 'cartel'
The European Union (EU) has imposed a record fine of 992m euros ($1.3bn; £666.8m) on four lift and escalator manufacturers for price-fixing.
Germany's ThyssenKrupp, US-owned Otis, Kone of Finland and Swiss firm Schindler were fined for taking part in a market-rigging cartel.
The group fixed prices, rigged bids and allocated projects in four EU countries between 1995 and 2004, the EU said.
Among the buildings affected were the European Commission headquarters.
The EU said it was outrageous the four had artificially inflated building construction and maintenance costs.
"The result of this cartel is that taxpayers, public authorities and property developers have been ripped off big time," said EU spokesman Jonathan Todd.
"These companies ensured, by rigging the bids and sharing the markets, that the prices paid both for the installation and the maintenance were way above what they would have been if there had been a competitive market."
'Lasting damage'
Among the buildings affected were the headquarters of the European Commission and the EU courts building in Luxembourg.
Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes added that the memory of the fine should last as long as the damage the companies had caused.
"The national management of these companies know what they were doing was wrong, but they tried to conceal their action and went ahead anyway," Ms Kroes said in a statement.
"The damage caused by this cartel will last for many years, because it covered not only the initial supply, but also the subsequent maintenance of lifts and elevators."
ThyssenKrupp was handed the biggest fine in EU history for a single firm - 480m euros - as it was a repeat offender, the EU added.
Appeals?
The German group said it was considering whether to appeal against the decision.
In a statement, it said it had carried out an internal investigation into the claims, which it said were a "one-time event" as it had uncovered "no systematic wrongdoing" at its lifts unit.
However, it did add that the fine would affect its bottom line for the current financial year.
Otis, owned by US group United Technologies, was fined 225m euros for its part in the cartel.
Its US owner said it would be appealing against the ruling, adding it had co-operated fully with the EU's investigations. Nine Otis workers have since been identified and dismissed for breaking the company's code of ethics.
Schindler added it was "very surprised" by the size of its 144m euro fine. Kone was fined 142m euros.
news.bbc.co.uk
See also:
epf-fepi.com |
