The European Union has squeezed a settlement out of CRT glass manufacturers it accused of operating a cartel back in the days when people used glass screens. Three vendors will cough up a total of €128m (£111m) to settle the investigation. Nippon Electric will pay €43.2m, Schott AG will pay €40.1m and Asahi Glass will pay €45. …

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Thursday 20th October 2011 15:32 GMT Acme Fixer

Disposal Tax

The crooked colluders here in California charge us an additional tax on any LCD screen bigger than (I forgot) inches "for disposal". I could see this with the leaded glass in CRTs, but why are we getting screwed with lead free LCDs?

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1. Friday 21st October 2011 16:12 GMT Dave 13
  
  Tax
  
  When's the last time a tax or 'disposal fee' was actually killed when the reason for imposing it went away? Never. Taxes are forever, remember that.
  
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Thursday 20th October 2011 15:33 GMT Anonymous Coward

Nothing like quick justice.

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Thursday 20th October 2011 15:33 GMT Anonymous Coward

"Then they would have gone and bought the overpriced stuff anyway because they are haughty snobs and don't "buy cheap".

Bit of a chip on your shoulder eh?

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Thursday 20th October 2011 15:43 GMT Anonymous Coward

So basically Samsung did it but because the grassed on the others they get away with it = DIRT

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Thursday 20th October 2011 18:54 GMT John A Blackley

Improvements

The practice ended in 2004, Brussels started investigating in 2008 and the case (because it was 'fast tracked') was closed in 2011. Nobody who was damaged by the cartel gets any of their money back and the EU gets to trouser the lot.

Given their past speed and results, this is quite the improvement. Next they'll be announcing that they've reconciled auditors' failure to certify their accounts for 2003.

Or not.

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Friday 21st October 2011 00:07 GMT Anonymous Coward

And for their next trick...

There existed a lightbulb cartel, apparently provably so, though it was about keeping hours per bulb at exactly 1000 (instead of 1500 or 2500 or even more), not about fixing the price to anything. Now with lightbulbs having been legislated out of existence in the EU, seems about the right time for anti-competetive EUcrats to step in, no?

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1. Friday 21st October 2011 12:13 GMT BristolBachelor
  
  I seem to remember being able to buy long-life bulbs, and seeing bulbs rated for 5000 hours (important if changing them requires getting out scafolding, or you don't want them to go out half-way through a show!)
  
  However, most people went and bought the "Tesco Value" bulbs instead, with lifetimes so short they might not even work by the time you got them home!
  
  (yesterday I saw that Philips have finally released a dimmable LED, 35W equivalent GU10 bulb, and for only 45€)
  
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  1. Sunday 23rd October 2011 21:20 GMT Richard 12
    
    Those Philips LED have been out for a few months now
    
    It really surprised me to find that they're pretty good - down to 12% or so.
    
    Shame they don't have an MR16 equivalent yet.
    
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Friday 21st October 2011 13:22 GMT ratfox

cartel of videotape makers just four years ago

You owe me a new keyboard!

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Friday 21st October 2011 16:12 GMT Dave 13

The EU is asleep at the wheel..

..and collecting a paycheck. Seriously, folks, they make the US DOJ look like gazelles. And places where they *should* be a roadblock (Oracle buyout of Sun comes to mind) they just putter around and eventually allow it.

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Monday 24th October 2011 04:20 GMT Acme Fixer

Cartrel???

If they're so bent on busting cartels, then why does the diamond cartel (deBeers) still get away with controlling and manipulating the price of diamonds?

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