They just don't get it....

Ocean carriers lost their anti-trust immunity a few years ago.

But, I guess they didn't think the U.S. Government would bother checking
into their activities.

Guess the executives aren't aware that the U.S. Government sent people
to jail a few years ago for collusion.
Anyone remember this?

Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Pleading Stupidity

Back in October, I posted about some people going to jail for anti-trust violations.

This week the first one was sentenced to jail time. In his defense, he pleaded he was only following orders.

Former Sea Star Line executive Peter Baci, the first person sentenced in a federal antitrust investigation of Puerto Rico carriers, claims that he participated in a price-fixing scheme under orders from an official at Saltchuk Resources, a part-owner of Sea Star.

Baci was senior vice president, yield management, at Sea Star until he was fired last year after the federal investigation became public. He was sentenced today to four years in prison, a $20,000 fine and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to antitrust conspiracy.

The FMC is warning folks...

From The Journal of Commerce

Federal Maritime Commission Chairman Richard Lidinksy says the container shipping industry's trans-Pacific discussion groups are showing "near outright defiance” of a commission's oversight order and warned he'll take action unless he gets timely responses to questions.

Lidinsky's broadside Thursday against the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement and the Westbound Transpacific Stabilization Agreement came after they have “stiff-armed” the commission with “shockingly tardy” responses.

The FMC in September 2010 ordered transcripts of all TSA and WTSA meetings following an investigation of charges the carriers manipulated container and vessel capacity to raise rates in late 2009 and early 2010. The order stands until April 2012.

“We have a situation where a group of shipping lines have been given antitrust immunity to collude to raise the rates that American shippers and consumers pay. ... All we ask in return are some transcripts and minutes – something just about any lawyer gets for simple depositions or proceedings as a routine matter,” Lidinsky said

The groups were given 21 days after a meeting to file a transcript, but FMC General Counsel Rebecca Fenneman said some groups didn’t file transcripts until as much as 28 days after the meeting. Out of 83 transcripts of live TSA meetings or conference calls, 18 were late. Out of 121 meetings by the WTSA, 24 transcripts were late.

The commission also required copies of email exchanges among TSA and WTSA members, and one was a year late. The discussion agreements notified the FMC only once that a transcript would be late.

Fenneman said the late filings appeared to be due to clerical difficulties. Lidinsky agreed, noting some carriers in the agreements individually were “excellent regulatory citizens.”

Ha Ha.