When companies secretly fix prices, who pays?
When one company controls supplies, who suffers?
When one company dominates the desktop, who loses?
These questions are at the core of a new half hour film, Fair Fight in the Marketplace. Produced by San Francisco’s Filmmakers Collaborative for the American Antitrust Institute, the film provides an engaging look at our antitrust laws that give protection to both American consumers and businesses. The program also considers a more fundamental question: can a set of regulations created by the Sherman Act at the end of the 19th century be relevant in today’s era of digital technology and high-speed communications?
Hosted by NPR and Fox News commentator Mara Liasson, the program provides a short, colorful history of the antitrust laws in America and features three recent case studies:
- Archer Daniels Midland Company leading a worldwide price-fixing conspiracy
- Mylan Pharmaceuticals cutting off supplies to competitors to inflate product pricing
- Microsoft’s bullying behavior to eliminate Netscape as an effective competitor in the internet browser market
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Distinguished authorities in law and economics offer context and commentary, while noted business journalists provide special insights and bring a seemingly impenetrable subject into meaningful focus. Victims from the corporate schemes relate the impact on their lives and give viewers a sense of how antitrust laws affect everyday matters like product pricing, selection, and quality.
In addition to the broadcast version, the producers have prepared an educational DVD that breaks the program into five discrete segments. Each segment is preceded by commentary from Tom Papageorge, lead LA County Deputy District Attorney for Consumer Protection. The educational DVD is accompanied by a week-long curriculum prepared for high school teachers. A resource-rich website supports this public information effort with more detailed information, historic documents and images, and web links.
The Fair Fight educational program was funded by settlement money resulting from successful prosecution of an antitrust lawsuit in the California courts. The American Antitrust Institute is an independent non-profit education, research, and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., whose mission is to increase the role of competition, assure that competition works in the interests of consumers, and challenge abuses of concentrated economic power.
Purchase this DVD
The DVD of Fair Fight in the Marketplace is available for $24.95 at Amazon.com.
Special features include:
- Educational commentary by Tom Papageorge, Head Deputy District Attorney, Consumer Protection Division, Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. The commentary is interspersed between chapters of the film, bringing the total running time to 35 minutes.
- Spanish subtitles
- Chinese subtitles
- English subtitles for the hearing impaired
* Material in this post is from the publisher’s web site and was used without permission.
