Posted By CotoBloigzz
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA – A preliminary court approval of settlements
resolving allegations that LG, Hitachi, Panasonic, Toshiba, and Samsung,
companies all based in Japan or Korea, fixed prices on critical components of
televisions and computer monitors from 1995 to 2007, was announced today by the
California Attorney General
The
components, known as Cathode Ray Tubes or CRTs, are very much obsolete: They were used to display images on computer
monitors and televisions screens before they were replaced by flat screens.
The
court has approved the settlement pending valid objections submitted within 60
days.
The
settlements, which were filed in San Francisco Superior Court, require all five
companies to pay a total of $4.95 million to settle claims of overcharges paid
by California government entities, general damages suffered by the State’s
economy, and civil penalties.
The
settlements require that the companies pay back the illegally obtained profits
to those affected by their actions. In addition, the settlements include
injunctive relief, which requires that each company engage in company-wide
antitrust compliance training and reporting that involves products in addition
to CRTs and extends to foreign companies and subsidiaries.
Finally,
the settlements include requirements, enforceable by the court via fines and
imprisonment, to prevent future violations of antitrust law.
In
2011, after the Office of Attorney General conducted a confidential
investigation into price-fixing involving CRTs, the Attorney General filed
complaints against these companies for having entered into a price-fixing
conspiracy of critical components of television and computer screens. That
conspiracy involved top-level meetings of key executive decision-makers in Asia
and Europe to set prices and outputs of CRTs. It also involved worldwide
meetings among lower-level executives to exchange confidential
information. Californian subsidiaries of these companies were involved in
this conspiracy and took on the role of monitoring the prices of televisions
and computers in California stores.
California
consumers or sole proprietorships that purchased at least one television or
computer between 1995 and 2007 can make a claim, with a guaranteed minimum
check of $25.
All
eligible California consumers and sole proprietorships can file claims for
reimbursement athttps://www.crtclaims.com/. The new deadline
for filing those claims is June 30, 2016.
.
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