Landlords and property managers can’t collude on rental pricing. Using new technology to do it doesn’t change that antitrust fundamental. Regardless of the industry you’re in, if your business uses an algorithm to determine prices, a brief filed by the FTC and the Department of Justice offers a helpful guideline for antitrust compliance: your algorithm can’t do anything that would be illegal if done by a real person.
Lots of people act like justice never comes from the Federal government to corporations, as if FaceBook isn’t paying Billions in FTC fines for the next 2 decades. Punishments get dolled out all the time, but nobody talks about it.
Why would people care? Even if we assume the fine isn’t so trivial it’s just a cost of doing business people don’t get that money nor does the federal government turn around and say “Good news everyone this means we can afford universal healthcare now!”
Even if it’s not as good as a criminal prosecution, it definitely does a lot to keep for profit companies in line. Without these various fines and rulings, the world would be a much worse place.
Let us look at an example where this sort of regulation was in place, and then went away:
In March 2014, Abbott lobbied to delay implementations of and even remove FDA Regulations on baby formula which would require more frequent inspections (and therefor fines), citing that the company was already morally and monetarily incentivized to control the quality of product without the need of oversight.
Abbott Baby Formula facility in Sturgis, Michigan, was linked to the infection of 5 infants and death of 2 infants, and revealed to have shipped untested batches of formula with falsified reports from management. This lead to the inevitable shutdown of the entire facility and following nationwide shortage of infant formula.
So, yes, fining companies to keep them in line is working when the alternative is that the unchecked corporations do things so catastrophically stupid that they run their own businesses into the ground.
So, yes, fining companies to keep them in line is working when the alternative is that the unchecked corporations do things so catastrophically stupid that they run their own businesses into the ground.
I submit that such circumstances are rare, and that the usual case is that fines are a tiny fraction of the money companies being in by breaking the law.
The AZ Attorney General seems to be working on it at least.
https://www.azag.gov/press-release/attorney-general-mayes-sues-realpage-and-residential-landlords-illegal-price-fixing
Lots of people act like justice never comes from the Federal government to corporations, as if FaceBook isn’t paying Billions in FTC fines for the next 2 decades. Punishments get dolled out all the time, but nobody talks about it.
Why would people care? Even if we assume the fine isn’t so trivial it’s just a cost of doing business people don’t get that money nor does the federal government turn around and say “Good news everyone this means we can afford universal healthcare now!”
Even if it’s not as good as a criminal prosecution, it definitely does a lot to keep for profit companies in line. Without these various fines and rulings, the world would be a much worse place.
Does it? Because gestures broadly at the entire economy.
Let us look at an example where this sort of regulation was in place, and then went away:
In March 2014, Abbott lobbied to delay implementations of and even remove FDA Regulations on baby formula which would require more frequent inspections (and therefor fines), citing that the company was already morally and monetarily incentivized to control the quality of product without the need of oversight.
Abbott Baby Formula facility in Sturgis, Michigan, was linked to the infection of 5 infants and death of 2 infants, and revealed to have shipped untested batches of formula with falsified reports from management. This lead to the inevitable shutdown of the entire facility and following nationwide shortage of infant formula.
So, yes, fining companies to keep them in line is working when the alternative is that the unchecked corporations do things so catastrophically stupid that they run their own businesses into the ground.
I submit that such circumstances are rare, and that the usual case is that fines are a tiny fraction of the money companies being in by breaking the law.
Sure, I never argued otherwise.
So, as before:
gestures broadly at entire economy