The Other Side
Robert W. Coykendall, attorney for PSKS, of course argued why minimum selling prices are harmful by stating, “As recently as last month, this court restated a guiding principle of antitrust jurisprudence: Discouraging price cuts and depriving consumers of low prices is bad antitrust policy. RPM [resale price maintenance] prohibits price.”
However, Justice Antonin Scalia responded, “I mean, a lot of consumers want extended warranties. They want showrooms where they can go and look at things. All of which costs more money. …The customers shop at the place that has the big showroom, likes all the product[s] there, and goes and buys it from somebody else who has not incurred that expense. Now, I just don’t think all the customers want is cheap. I think they want other things besides cheap. I think they want service. I think they want selection. I think they want the ability to view goods and so forth. Why do you discount all of those things?”
Coykendall’s retort: “I don’t discount all those things. All those things are available under our current regime where we have a per se prohibition against resale price maintenance.”
“Well, they aren’t available,” responded Scalia. “This company thought it could provide higher service if it could assure its retailers that they would not be undercut by people who are not providing that kind of service.”
“And there’s no question that even the plaintiff in this case was providing that service,” said Cokendall. “He was providing it more efficiently and he just wanted to pass those efficiencies on.”
But Scalia followed by saying, “I don’t know that there’s no question about that. There’s certainly no question that this company was successful in breaking into a difficult market with its strategy of assuring its retailers a cushion so that they could provide the service.”
Based on the commentary, some of which was mentioned above, a split-decision by the nine members of the Supreme Court is certainly possible, if not probable. The entire 18-page transcript of the March 27 hearing can be read at www.oyez.org. A ruling by the Supreme Court is expected by August, because the court takes its summer recess then and has been known to want to clear all cases on its docket before its vacation time.
[end]
[ pages: 1 - 2 ]
|
you can download this entire issue here >>
