Honestly, I don’t even know how to respond to this:
WASHINGTON — A Cincinnati packaged-ice manufacturer was sentenced today to pay a $9 million criminal fine for its participation in a conspiracy to allocate packaged-ice customers and territories, the Department of Justice announced today.
The Home City Ice Company pleaded guilty on June 17, 2008, to a one-count charge of conspiring to suppress and eliminate competition by allocating packaged-ice customers and territories in the Detroit metropolitan area and southeastern Michigan. The conspiracy began at least as early as Jan. 1, 2001, and continued until on or about July 17, 2007.
Packaged ice is marketed as high-grade ice for consumption and is sold in varying size bags and blocks. Home City Ice is a manufacturer of packaged ice with multiple locations throughout the United States.
Today’s sentencing is a result of an ongoing investigation by the Antitrust Division’s Cleveland Field Office and FBI offices in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Indianapolis; Toledo, Ohio; and Cincinnati. As a part of the same investigation, Arctic Glacier International Inc., a packaged-ice company headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., and three of its former executives pleaded guilty in October 2009 to allocating customers in the Detroit metropolitan area and southeastern Michigan. On Feb. 11, 2010, Arctic Glacier was sentenced to pay a $9 million criminal fine.
Anyone with information concerning customer or territorial allocation agreements, or other anticompetitive conduct in the packaged-ice industry, should contact the Antitrust Division’s Cleveland Field Office at 216-687-8400 or visit http://www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm.
So, if we just give the Justice Department nine million dollars, the price of ice will go down? Is that how this works?
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So stupid it’s hard to believe.
Abolish Antitrust NOW!
Not until we get the Fed on an anti-trust suit. Then remove anti-trust!
If you ever get to Hattiesburg MS, stop by Nick’s Ice House for a beer. It’s a landmark.
Ha, I just did a search for Nick’s, check out the stuff about the “…nazi city council” on their myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/nicksicehouse
“Who I’d like to meet: People who want to hang out and drink beer” I miss that place.
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Is this an ad?
Sounds like an ad. Maybe we should contact the justice department?
It’s a good thing the FTC is on the lookout for people abusing their ice monopoly or conspiring to create an ice cartel. I mean, they’ve really got us over a barrel. Oh wait,….
Please tell me that the “packaged-ice market” is not considered a market for antitrust purposes.
I wonder where that 9 million goes? Probably to support the prosecution/persecution of more individuals engaging in the willing exchange of goods and services! I didn’t know you could have a monopoly on frozen water?
In the Car Audio industry it is quite normal for a manufacturer to specify how many stores in a given area can carry their product. Is this not the very same thing?
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