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 United States.3 The conspiracy allegedly took place between October 2014 through at least June 2016,4 and the co-conspirators attempted to avoid exposure through the use of text messages and high-tech "social media platforms and encrypted messaging applications."5
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