Klarinet Archive - Posting 000040.txt from 2006/08

From: Joseph Wakeling <joseph.wakeling@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Buffet Pricefixing??
Date: Wed, 02 Aug 2006 05:58:59 -0400

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Bill Hausmann wrote:
>> Not according to the Supreme Court in the US (there have been a number
>> of cases brought before it on this subject). Setting a minimum price
>> and dropping dealers that sell below that price is currently perfectly
>> legal. Coercing dealers to not sell below that price (a policy of
>> dropping the dealers is different than coercing them, at least
>> legally) is not legal.
>>
>> A number of co-ops have brought suit against distributors for this
>> very reason. The suits have not been fruitful unless coercion has been
>> demonstrated.
>
> Once again proving how useless lawyers are. In their convoluted minds,
> coercing is not the same thing as coercing. Brilliant.

But it's *not* the same thing, because by dropping a dealer, Buffet are
forfeiting their own sales. The difference is between saying, "Hey,
we're going to sell this to you and we want you to sell it for xxxx,"
versus, "If it won't sell at xxxx, we won't sell it at all." There's an
obvious limit to how much one can do this before it becomes a losing
strategy, so it doesn't need to be legally limited in the same way.
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