Federal Trade Commission/Department of Justice to Continue Hearings on Single-Firm Conduct

The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division today announced that the fifth in a series of joint public hearings designed to examine the implications of single-firm conduct under the antitrust laws will take place on October 26, 2006, in Washington, DC.

As previously announced, these hearings will examine whether and when specific types of single-firm conduct may violate Section 2 of the Sherman Act by harming competition and consumer welfare and when they are pro-competitive and lawful. The hearings will continue during the coming months, with three days of hearings scheduled for November. The morning panel on October 26 will explore business history perspectives regarding single-firm conduct, and the afternoon panel will explore business strategy perspectives. The October 26 session will be held at the FTC Headquarters Building, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC, Room 532.

Further information on the October 26 panels is provided below:

Understanding Single-Firm Behavior: Business History Session (9:30 AM - 12:00 PM):

Tony Allan Freyer is a University Research Professor of History and Law at the University of Alabama School of Law.

Louis Galambos is a Professor of History at The Johns Hopkins University, President of the Business History Group, and Co-Director of the Institute for Applied Economics and the Study of Business Enterprise.

James P. May is a Professor of Law at the Washington College of Law, American University.

George David Smith is a Clinical Professor of Economics, Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the New York University Stern School of Business.

Understanding Single-Firm Behavior: Business Strategy Session (1:30 PM - 4:00 PM):

Jeffrey P. McCrea is Vice President of the Sales and Marketing Group at Intel Corporation.

David J. Reibstein is the William S. Woodside Professor and Professor of Marketing at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

David T. Scheffman is Director of LECG, LLC, an Adjunct Professor of Business Strategy and Marketing at the Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University, and former Director of the Bureau of Economics at the FTC.

George David Smith is a Clinical Professor of Economics, Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the New York University Stern School of Business.

In addition to the hearings scheduled for October 26, additional public hearings will be held regarding tying on November 1, exclusive dealing on November 15, and loyalty discounts on November 29. Information about the times, locations, and panelists for these hearings, as well as information about other future hearings, will be made available at a later date.

The public and press are invited to attend the hearings. Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Interested parties may submit written comments to the FTC and the Antitrust Division.

Further information about these hearings will be posted on the FTC’s Web site, http://www.ftc.gov/os/sectiontwohearings/index.htm and the Antitrust Division’s Web site, http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/hearings/single_firm/sfchearing.htm. Individuals seeking more information on the hearings should contact Patricia Schultheiss, FTC, at section2hearings@ftc.gov, or Gail Kursh, Deputy Chief, Legal Policy Section, Antitrust Division, at singlefirmconduct@usdoj.gov.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint, or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to thousands of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.