laws and regulations

Hynix Pays $185M Price-fixing Fine

The DRAM supplier agreed to the fine and a guilty plea in the Justice Department’s ongoing probe into DRAM pricing fixing. The DRAM market has terrible pricing pressures. Various suppliers, including Hynix and Infineon regularly agreed to pricing plans through … Read More

PA State Gov Getting Out of Liquor Pricing?

The AP reports that The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board may allow stores to set their own prices on liquor. Since Prohibition, the state has required liquor stores to have uniform prices across the entire state for the first time since … Read More

Music Industry Attempts to Remove Life Support

As I noted earlier, the music industry is desparately trying to alienate its customers. For some reason, it took Steve Jobs to come in and create a usable way for people to download music and let the labels make money. … Read More

Retailers, Clothing Makers Fight Over Lost Margin

After a brutal holiday retailing season, stores are asking clothing makers to pay “markdown” money, to cover margin lost to heavy discounts. The clothing makers say the stores discounted too aggressively, but most have little choice but to pay. When … Read More

Online Pricing Errors: Who Pays?

A court in Singapore handed down a decision ruling that an etailer did not have to honor prices posted by mistake. (See the story at CNet.) The judge ruled that the etailer could get off the hook because customers deliberately … Read More

Blockbuster’s “End of Late Fees” Program Draws NJ Lawsuit

CNN reported yesterday that the Attorney General of New Jersey is suing Blockbuster, Inc., accusing the movie rental giant of consumer fraud. Blockbuster touts an end to late fees, which previously made up a big portion of its profits. High … Read More