MAP Policies And Internet Dealers

Originally published Spring/Summer 2012

A notable recent decision by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York holds that enforcement of a Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) policy against Internet retailers does not amount to Minimum Resale Price Maintenance, notwithstanding the contention regularly made by such retailers that prices appearing on websites really amount to selling prices rather than advertised prices.¹

In that case, Worldhomecenter.com, Inc. v. Franke Consumer Products, Inc., the district court also held, in accord with an earlier holding of a New York state court, that Minimum Resale Price Maintenance is not per seillegal under New York's antitrust law. The New York Attorney General had taken a public position to the contrary.