Antitrust
SOM
Posts: 1,555 ✭✭✭
Isn't it some sort of restraint of trade for ebay to force us to use Paypal (their own subsidiary!) as the only accepted form of payment starting Jan 15?
If a car dealer insisted we pay for their vehicles via GMAC, that would sure never fly!
Nick
If a car dealer insisted we pay for their vehicles via GMAC, that would sure never fly!
Nick
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Comments
I think you make an interesting point. Would be curious if anyone knows anything about antitrust laws or similar.
I happen to like Paypal but it does seem like a potential problem.
There are two fairly prominent complaints being readied.
It appears that the anti-trust claims lack merit.
However, the defense of "choice" is attacked on the basis that the
proffered "choice" is "really no choice at all." (This concept is likely
designed to allow the complaints to survive for a bit longer than
they otherwise might.)
One of the complaints contains novel RICO notions. ("Novel" because
EBAY has never had to defend them before, not because they have
not been used successfully against other gangs.)
The FACT is that the "choice" is more expensive than the "forced service."
Because MOST of EBAY's customers are retail consumers, this might fly.
EBAY argues that its customers are "businesses" that do not lack sophistication
and that the Acts do not perfectly apply to that class of plaintiffs. This
screwball argument fails on its face, IMV, and seems to be sucked straight
out of Robert H. Bork's book, "The Antitrust Paradox." (A great book that
expalins the futility of fighting the corps that control America.) But, the argument
might fly. You never know what will happen in court.
EBAY's weakness rests in the relationships between sponsors of the inititial
"choice" - ProPay - and the company that clears most of PayPal's credit-card
transactions (WFC). ProPay is a "registered agent" of WFC. The plaintiffs
argue that "WFC is the de facto 'owner' of ProPay," and that the "choice"
is a corrupt deterent to consumers moving away from PayPal.
Additionally, ProPay will not be available to ALL sellers at EBAY for some time.
EBAY is now adding additional "choices." I have not had the chance/interest
to explore the corrupt nature of the connections between EBAY and the new
"choices," but the plaintiffs will, and I am sure they will find enough FILTH to
help argue their RICO pleadings.
Sadly, at least one of the cases is likely to end up in a super class-action mill.
Consumers will end up sold out for a few coupons that can be used to discount
PayPal fees and/or EBAY fees.
The CA AG is looking at the situation, but there is no way for outsiders to know
what they are thinking. Probably another useless "consent decree" is on route.
I do know that the AG in CA - and in many other states - has been lobbied on
the Clayton Act issues. (Tying Agreements.) The tying stuff is mush easier to
maintain in civil court than is the Sherman stuff.
The ONLY effective path will be blazed by a skilled pro se litigant OR a young lawyer
who refuses to sell-out his clients. If I was a ute lawyer wanting to get famous, I
would be on this one like white on rice.
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There is an interesting "defamation" action ongoing. Law Student brought the action.
Motion To Dismiss
In The Beginning
Lawsuit Updates
Interested sellers can google the plaintiff to learn more. He seems not very generous with
his "work product" and seems more interested in getting famous and getting paid than
he is in slaying giants. NOT saying he IS those things, just saying it "seems" to be so.
It's just my good-faith opinion and belief so don't waste time and money sueing me for it.
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Antitrust scholar Robert H. Bork
At Yale, he was best known for writing The Antitrust Paradox, a book in which he argued that consumers were often beneficiaries of corporate mergers, and that many then-current readings of the antitrust laws were economically irrational and hurt consumers. Bork's writings on antitrust law, along with those of Richard Posner and other law and economics and Chicago School thinkers, were heavily influential in causing a shift in the U.S. Supreme Court's approach to antitrust laws since the 1970s.
answers......
Tying Agreements
Sales practice forbidden by Section 3 of the Clayton Act in which a marketer uses economic dominance over the supply of one product to force customers to purchase another product, thereby competing unfairly. For example, the sole manufacturer of a patented pharmaceutical who restricts sale of that drug to customers who also purchase another nonpatented drug. In the absence of a monopoly, it has been difficult for the courts to prove that economic dominance exists and the mere existence of a patent is not adequate evidence.
wiki......
Sherman Act
The Act provides: "Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal".[2] The Act also provides: "Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony [. . . ]"[3] The Act put responsibility upon government attorneys and district courts to pursue and investigate trusts, companies and organizations suspected of violating the Act. The Clayton Act (1914) extended the right to sue under the antitrust laws to "any person who shall be injured in his business or property by reason of anything forbidden in the antitrust laws."[4] Under the Clayton Act, private parties may sue in U.S. district court and should they prevail, they may be awarded treble damages and the cost of suit, including reasonable attorney's fees.
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Yup.
google checkout is cheaper than PP, though.
The pesky "buyer protection/seller protection" nonsense is really
my only personal concern with PayPal.
Of course, accepting PayPal outside of EBAY does not present the
same risks to sellers as it does on EBAY.
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Folks who want to know about the Genesis of PayPal should read
"The PayPal Wars"
The book is FREE on google.