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Tag: Collusion

  • Bridgestone Executive Jailed For Price Fixing

    Bridgestone executive Yusuke Shimasaki this week pleaded guilty to charges related to an international car part price-fixing and bid-rigging conspiracy. Two other Bridgestone executives, Yasuo Tyuto and Isao Yoshida, were also indicted this week for their roles in the conspiracy.

    Shimasaki will serve one year and six months in prison and pay a $20,000 fine. As part of the plea agreement, Shimasaki has agreed to cooperate with the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation into the price-fixing.

    Shimasaki pleaded guilty to one charge of price fixing and bid riggin in violation of the Sherman Act. The conviction stems from a wide-ranging conspiracy that Bridgestone Corp. participated in from January 2001 until December 2008. The company met with others during that time to artificially inflate the prices of certain rubber components for vehicles. These rubber parts were then sold to car manufacturers including Nissan, Toyota, and Suzuki. In February Bridgestone was fined $425 million for its part in the collusion.

    According to Shimasaki’s plea agreement, he participated in the conspiracy from January 2001 until December 2008. He moved up through the company as a Bridgestone sales manager, EVP, and then general sales manager for the company during that time.

    Shimasaki is one of 33 different people charged in connection to the price-fixing scandal. In addition, 26 separate companies have been found guilty of participating in the conspiracy. These companies have paid a combined $2.29 billion in fines to the U.S. government. The FBI and Justice Department are continuing to investigate the anticompetitive practices uncovered in automotive industry in recent years.

    “The charge today once again demonstrates the Antitrust Division’s vigorous commitment to hold individuals accountable for engaging in anticompetitive conduct,” said Brent Snyder, deputy assistant attorney general for the criminal enforcement program of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “The division’s ongoing investigation has resulted in more than two dozen executives serving prison time for their participation in illegal conspiracies involving auto parts.”

    Image via Bridgestone

  • Bridgestone fined $425 Million For Price Fixing

    The U.S. Department of Justice today announced that Bridgestone Corp has agreed to plead guilty to charges related to automotive industry price fixing. The company will pay a $425 million fine for colluding to artificially raise prices on certain rubber vehicle parts.

    In agreeing to plead guilty, Bridgestone has admitted that it was part of a conspiracy to rig bids and fix prices for anti-vibration rubber parts for cars. These parts were then sold to car companies including Nissan, Suzuki, and Toyota at the inflated prices.

    Bridgestone officials met with co-conspirators to discuss prices, set agreed-upon bids, and divide up sales among their companies. According to the charges this method of setting automotive parts prices went on from at least January 2001 until December 2008.

    “The illegal activity in this case threatened the basic tenet of free competition,” said Stephen Anthony, special agent in charge with the FBI. “We are pleased with the acceptance of responsibility along with the significant penalty which will be paid by Bridgestone for this conspiracy to fix prices. Together with our partners in the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, we will continue to combat illegal practices which threaten consumers across the United States.”

    In addition to the fine, Bridgestone has stated that it will cooperate with the larger U.S. investigation into price fixing in the auto industry. Bridgestone is one of 26 companies that have been found guilty of colluding to fix prices for automotive parts. To date the U.S. has recovered more than $2 billion in fines from the companies and prosecuted 28 individuals for their roles in the scandal.

  • Mozilla Addresses Online Tracking With Collusion

    Because privacy is such the buzz word in relation to Internet activities nowadays, something like this from a popular browser developer only makes sense.

    What we have is the Collusion add-on from Mozilla, a Firefox extension that allows users to see which sites are tracking their movements across the web. According to the description, Collusion shows users how their data is used to create a “spider-web of interaction between companies and other trackers.” Aside from viewing those that are tracking your web activity, Collusion also gives the user the power to turn tracking off.

    Granted, the Firefox browser introduced this capability a few versions ago, but there’s nothing wrong with reminding users about something they may have forgotten about. Besides, it’s clear that Internet privacy is very much a hot-button issue, so capitalizing on the fear of the masses by saying, “hey, our browser can protect your privacy” is only smart business. Here’s a screenshot of Firefox’s already-existent ability to turn tracking off:

    Firefox Tracking

    To announce the arrival of Collusion, Mozilla created a special page for the add-on, and they paid special attention to their partner for this endeavor, the Ford Foundation (not to be confused with the company responsible for Ford Trucks). The goal of Collusion, which Mozilla clearly has ideas of growing it into something larger than just a mere add-on, appears to be one of education as well.

    That is, Mozilla appears to be invested in educating its users about tracking, as well as giving them a widget that allows them to opt out. A couple of quotes stand out in relation:

    Telling the global tracking story
    Your data can be part of the larger story. When we launch the full version of Collusion, it will allow you to opt-in to sharing your anonymous data in a global database of web tracker data. We’ll combine all that information and make it available to help researchers, journalists, and others analyze and explain how data is tracked on the web.

    And:

    Building user awareness
    Through our work with the Ford Foundation, we’ll be building outreach campaigns to help people understand online data tracking — both the benefits and the issues — so they can make their own choices about how they want to be tracked (or choose not to be tracked at all).

    The page also informs visitors that not all tracking is bad. From Mozilla’s perspective, some Internet tracking can “enhance your online experience” as site owners try to tailor an experience that appeals to their users. However, tracking without user consent is where Collusion shows its worth.

    Mozilla wants to put the power of allowing or blocking Internet traffic in the hands of the users, and to facilitate this process, they are also informing the masses about the good and bad of Internet tracking.