AfterDawn: News

Sony, Fuji and Maxell fined for price fixing by EU

Sony, Fuji and Maxell have been handed hefty fines by the European Commission for their part in a price-fixing cartel. Specifically, the three companies engaged in price-fixing for videotapes, a crime which has now cost them fines accumulating to €75 million, which is about USD$111 million.

"Between 1999 and 2002, Sony, Fuji and Maxell managed to raise or otherwise control prices through a series of regular meetings and other illicit contacts," the European Union executive said in a statement. "This decision sends two warnings to companies engaging in cartel activities."



The three controlled 85% of the market in the professional videotape formats of the day, Betacam SP and Digital Betacam. Sony received a 30% higher fine than its counterparts combined, about €47 million, for trying to cover up the investigation. Fuji was fined €13.2 million and Maxell must pay up €14.4 million.

Source:
Pocket-Lint.co.uk

Written by: James Delahunty @ 23 Nov 2007 18:41

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• 13 comments

• mediabob

  hahaha sony gets what it deserves

  25.11.2007 01:52 #1

• ali2007

  yes sue them now

  25.11.2007 06:35 #2

• badkrma

  no they have it wrong, these companies are good and honest and are just trying to make their way in this corrupt world of ours where money speaks above humanity.

  25.11.2007 07:06 #3

• b18bek9

  badkrma i hope ur were just kidding with that quote because sony of course been known to be anti-consumer and as well as put out a bunch of great and not so great products yet they got caught but if they didnt get caught then hey they got over on us. They got caught so of course big coporations are gonna get hit harder then the little guys that bought there over priced products. What goes around comes around....

  25.11.2007 08:15 #4

• nobrainer

  Originally posted by b18bek9: badkrma i hope ur were just kidding with that quote because sony of course been known to be anti-consumer and as well as put out a bunch of great and not so great products yet they got caught but if they didnt get caught then hey they got over on us. They got caught so of course big coporations are gonna get hit harder then the little guys that bought there over priced products. What goes around comes around....sony are continually fixing prices, why do you think region codes are so vigorously protected, imports are blocked and the riaa locks your iTunes purchases to your country of occupancy!
  
  
  
  
  http://www.lik-sang.com/
  
  Quote:Lik-Sang.com Out of Business due to Multiple Sony Lawsuits
  Tue Oct 24 2006 21:58:51 Hong Kong Time - Corporate Info
  
  OUT OF BUSINESS NOTICE
  
  Hong Kong, October 24th of 2006 - Lik-Sang.com, the popular gaming retailer from Hong Kong, has today announced that it is forced to close down due to multiple legal actions brought against it by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Sony claimed that Lik-Sang infringed its trade marks, copyright and registered design rights by selling Sony PSP consoles from Asia to European customers, and have recently obtained a judgment in the High Court of London (England) rendering Lik-Sang's sales of PSP consoles unlawful.
  
  As of today, Lik-Sang.com will not be in the position to accept any new orders and will cancel and refund all existing orders that have already been placed. Furthermore, Lik-Sang is working closely with banks and PayPal to refund any store credits held by the company, and the customer support department is taking care of any open transactions such as pending RMAs or repairs and shipping related matters. The staff of Lik-Sang will make sure that nobody will get hurt in the crossfire of this ordeal.
  
  A Sony spokesperson declined to comment directly on the lawsuit against Lik-Sang, but recently went on to tell Gamesindustry.biz that "ultimately, we're trying to protect consumers from being sold hardware that does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards, due to voltage supply differences et cetera; is not - in PS3's case - backwards compatible with either PS1 or PS2 software; will not play European Blu-Ray movies or DVDs; and will not be covered by warranty".
  
  Lik Sang strongly disagrees with Sony's opinion that their customers need this kind of protection and pointed out that PSP consoles shipped from Lik-Sang contained genuine Sony 100V-240V AC Adapters that carry CE and other safety marks and are compatible world wide. All PSP consoles were in conformity with all EU and UK consumer safety regulations.
  
  Furthermore, Sony have failed to disclose to the London High Court that not only the world wide gaming community in more than 100 countries relied on Lik-Sang for their gaming needs, but also Sony Europe's very own top directors repeatedly got their Sony PSP hard or software imports in nicely packed Lik-Sang parcels with free Lik-Sang Mugs or Lik-Sang Badge Holders, starting just two days after Japan's official release, as early as 14th of December 2004 (more than nine months earlier than the legal action). The list of PSP related Sony Europe orders reads like the who's who of the videogames industry, and includes Ray Maguire (Managing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Alan Duncan (UK Marketing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Chris Sorrell (Creative Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Rob Parkin (Development Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited), just to name a few.
  
  "Today is Sony Europe victory about PSP, tomorrow is Sony Europe’s ongoing pressure about PlayStation 3. With this precedent set, next week could already be the stage for complaints from Sony America about the same thing, or from other console manufacturers about other consoles to other regions, or even from any publisher about any specific software title to any country they don’t see fit. It’s the beginning of the end... of the World as we know it", stated Pascal Clarysse, formerly known as the Marketing Manager of Lik-Sang.com.
  
  "Blame it on Sony. That's the latest dark spot in their shameful track record as gaming industry leader. The Empire finally 'won', few dominating retailers from the UK probably will rejoice the news, but everybody else in the gaming world lost something today."
  
  

  Tor: anonymity online HIDE your IP from the spies, post and browse anonymously! http://www.torproject.org/
  
  
  THE RIAA SOUNDEXCHANGE ARE: SONY, UNIVERSAL , WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  
  THE MPAA ARE: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.

  25.11.2007 13:04 #5

• badkrma

  to b18bek9 ... you bet I was being sarcastic, domination is the rule in the corp. world... getting us, the consumers to bleed money is their game.. they only care about selling the product once, not keep customers coming back out of loyalty

  25.11.2007 14:00 #6

• pryme_H

  It makes me wonder if a similar and more contemporary issue is happening nowadays.

  25.11.2007 14:58 #7

• oappi

  Sony should have got 100% higher fine for cover up... Sure sony has released some grate products... when east germany existed =). I bought sony crt (21") and i had to take it to infocare for repairs several times and suprise suprise it broke down just after the warrantly expired... which was 5 years. I have monitors that are like 20 years old and sony cant even give one that works 5 years with out several repairs.
  
  Sonys dvd players was just as funny 4 years low usage and it cant read dvd disk anymore (just cd´s).. wtf happened to that great company that sold good and reliable stuff... they got greedy thats what happened.. And now they are this damn bullish company we know today. Best message to sony is not to buy their stuff.. thats what i have been doing after these products.

  26.11.2007 10:28 #8

• redux79

  "Between 1999 and 2002, Sony, Fuji and Maxell managed to raise or otherwise control prices through a series of regular meetings and other illicit contacts,"
  
  Well it may take close to a decade, but at least this proves that large corps aren't completely immune to oversight of some kind. This makes me wonder who or what else is still under investigation and when the public will finally hear about it.

  26.11.2007 13:27 #9

• maitland

  Well, it would be a lot cooler if the money were going back to consumers, instead of to the government. Like, they should mandate that since they fixed the price of the media, they should now have to fix the price 50% lower for the next year.

  1.12.2007 14:40 #10

• borhan9

  now this is what the organizations should be fighting not the consumers that actually do good by them.

  20.12.2007 05:38 #11

• dr.benway

  111million ha smallchahge

  14.1.2008 12:18 #12

• nobrainer

  Originally posted by borhan9: now this is what the organizations should be fighting not the consumers that actually do good by them.Luckily in Europe the governments are not told what to do by the corporate a$$ holes, as much as they do in the USA, which is why the RIAA/MPAA conduct their tactics with impunity!
  

  The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  
  The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  
  The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.

  14.1.2008 12:44 #13