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To: misen who wrote (226377)	2/19/2007 12:21:13 PM
From: fastpathguru	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 275872

misen, First, on OEMs: If you go to Wikipedia's definition of OEM: An original equipment manufacturer (frequently abbreviated "OEM") is a company that builds products or components which are used in products sold by another company (often called a value-added reseller, or VAR). An OEM will typically build to order based on designs of the VAR. "OEMs" like Dell, HP, Gateway, Sun, etc. are all (primarily) direct sellers... They're not typically manufacturing assemblies that are sold to resellers. To conclusively answer the question though, you'll need to go right to RPA and not rely upon a Wikipedia overview... :) Second, re: damages & proving below-cost sales: * You need to think in terms of a post-3m/LePage's world, where the results of that trial overturned the "strict" notion that "above-cost" sales are always legitimate. 3M banked on just such a defense and lost... Miserably. That was '03, I believe, and your reference harkens back to the much more innocent and naive 20th century... :) * If you look at the effect of volume-bundling i.e. "first-dollar" rebates, etc., you'll see that such practice results in far-below-cost (if not negative) pricing for the incremental units that are sold beyond the volume target(s). fpg

To: misen who wrote (226377)	2/19/2007 4:01:12 PM
From: rzborusa	Respond to of 275872

Misen, ///First, FWIW, Wikipedia's entry on RPA says it does not apply to sales to OEMs: In general, the Act prohibits sales that discriminate in price on the sale of goods to equally-situated distributors when the effect of such sales is to reduce competition. Sales to original equipment manufacturers (OEM) are not subject to RPA. Price means net price and includes all compensation paid. The seller may not throw in additional goods or services. Injured parties or the US government may bring an action under the Act.? /// Laws and opinions are written with in the perspective at the time. Little is the "value added" in plugging things together. Witnessed to the fact that OEM margins are paper thin (Apple excluded). For much of the time in question the prominEnt feature of television add was the melodic "ba dum ba ding" . IIRC that was eluded to in the sueing papers. If every OEM was like Apple or Sun, with their own OS, or other serious innovations, but the CPU architecture is on top hardware wise. X86(64) has killed or marginalized most other. Far too important to let competition to be stifled. my -0.02