### 날짜 : 2024-03-22 13:17 ### 주제 : Anti-trust laws #economics #laws ---- Anti-trust laws(반독점 법, 공정거래법), also known as competition laws, are regulations designed to promote competition and prevent monopolistic practices that could harm consumers and the economy. The main goals of these laws include preventing businesses from gaining unfair dominance in the market, ensuring fair competition, and protecting consumers from predatory business practices. Here are some of the core principles and actions typically targeted by anti-trust laws: 1. **Monopolies and Market Dominance:** Preventing the formation of monopolies or companies holding too much market power, which could lead to price fixing, limited choices for consumers, and stifling innovation. 2. **Cartels and Collusive Practices:** Prohibiting agreements between businesses that restrict competition, such as price fixing, market sharing, and bid rigging. 3. **Mergers and Acquisitions:** Reviewing and potentially regulating or blocking mergers and acquisitions that could significantly reduce competition in a market. 4. **Market Allocation and Price Fixing:** Preventing businesses from illegally agreeing to divide markets among themselves or fix prices at a certain level. 5. **Abuse of Dominance:** Regulating or prohibiting actions by dominant firms that abuse their market position to exclude competitors or exploit consumers and suppliers. In the United States, the foundation of anti-trust law is built on three major federal acts: the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, the Clayton Act of 1914, and the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914. These laws provide the framework for federal agencies and courts to regulate and enforce competition standards. Similarly, other countries have their own sets of laws and regulatory bodies dedicated to enforcing competition policy, such as the European Union's competition law enforced by the European Commission. # Examples ### United States 1. **United States v. Microsoft Corp. (1998)**: This landmark case accused Microsoft of using its dominant position in the PC operating systems market to stifle competition, especially through practices related to its Internet Explorer web browser. The court ruled that Microsoft had violated U.S. anti-trust laws and ordered the company to split into two separate units. Though the breakup order was later reversed on appeal, Microsoft agreed to share its application programming interfaces with third parties. 2. **AT&T Breakup (1982)**: The U.S. Department of Justice filed an anti-trust lawsuit against AT&T, which led to the breakup of its Bell System. This was due to AT&T's monopoly over the nation's telephone service. The resolution of this case led to the division of AT&T into several companies, known as the Baby Bells, promoting competition in the telecom sector. 3. **Standard Oil Breakup (1911)**: The U.S. Supreme Court found Standard Oil guilty of monopolizing the petroleum industry through a series of abusive and anti-competitive actions. The company was broken up into 34 independent companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips, which are major players in today's oil industry. ### European Union 1. **Google Antitrust Cases**: The European Commission has fined Google in several cases for practices deemed anti-competitive. For example, in 2018, Google was fined €4.34 billion for using its Android mobile operating system to block rivals. This was the largest fine imposed by the Commission for an anti-trust case. Google was accused of making phone manufacturers pre-install Google Search and the Chrome browser as a condition for licensing Google's app store, Google Play. 2. **Microsoft (2004)**: The European Commission fined Microsoft €497 million for anti-competitive practices related to its Windows operating system's dominance. Microsoft was found to have abused its market position by bundling its Windows Media Player with the Windows operating system, thereby undermining competition. ### Asia 1. **Qualcomm in China (2015) and South Korea (2016)**: Qualcomm, a major semiconductor and telecommunications equipment company, faced fines from Chinese and South Korean regulators for anti-competitive practices. In China, Qualcomm was fined approximately $975 million for violating anti-monopoly laws, related to licensing fees and sales conditions imposed on smartphone manufacturers. South Korea fined Qualcomm over $850 million for similar practices. These examples illustrate how anti-trust laws and regulatory actions aim to ensure a level playing field in various industries, protecting both consumers and businesses from anti-competitive practices.