Vertical price-fixing -- an agreement
between a supplier and a dealer that fixes the minimum resale price of a
product -- is a clear-cut antitrust violation. It also is illegal for a
manufacturer and retailer to agree on a minimum resale price.

The antitrust laws, however, give a manufacturer latitude to adopt a policy
regarding a desired level of resale prices and to deal only with retailers
who independently decide to follow that policy.

Color me stupid, but I don't see a dime's worth of difference between
these two practices, except that the second is enforced from the top
down, which makes it wose than the first, which could in theory be a
mutual agreement.
all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

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