New Criminal Charges Confirm That Companies Cannot Evade Antitrust Exposure By Communicating In Increasingly High-Tech Ways

David Kully is a Partner for Holland & Kinght's Washington, D.C. office.

Amy Fuentes is an Associate for Holland & Kinght's Washington, D.C. office.

As we recently observed, the antitrust enforcement agencies believe they have the tools they need to catch people attempting to use modern technology to evade the century-old Sherman Act.  On August 7, 2017, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed this capability when it brought antitrust charges against an e-commerce company and its top executive in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.¹

The DOJ alleged that the defendant and co-conspirators violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act by scheming to fix prices for products sold online.² According to the DOJ's criminal information, the defendant and co-conspirators agreed both in person and online to fix the prices of customized products, including wristbands and lanyards, sold to customers in the