Capacitors Price-Fixing?

[andrewpurdy]

Howdy,

New non-techie member here posting by permission of BadCaps management.

My law firm is investigating the bases for a class action lawsuit against the large capacitor manufacturers based on their fixing prices among themselves for capacitors sold into the United States market within the last 10 years.

There's actually been a good bit about this in the press about this lately. The DOJ and the Chinese authorities are working together following a large capacitor manufacturer self-reporting themselves to seek leniency, and the Japanese authorities have been conducting dawn raids of the big Japanese producers. Check these articles out:

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/n...na011000c.html

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001377486


We are looking to speak with people or companies that have purchased capacitors either directly from the manufacturers or indirectly from the big distributors. Specifically, we are interested in seeing if anyone has noticed pricing hikes or stabilization, uniform other otherwise, over the last 10 years.

If you would like to talk, please feel free to contact me. I can be reached by e-mail at [email protected], or by phone at 415.500.6800.

Andrew Purdy
Joseph Saveri Law Firm
505 Montgomery Street, Suite 625
San Francisco, CA 94111
tel: 415.500.6800
[email protected]
www.saverilawfirm.com

[andrewpurdy]

More news on capacitors price fixing below. If anyone out there has purchased capacitors directly from the big manufacturers, I'd like to chat with you. My contact information is below the article:

Jun 26

Capacitor cartel probe heats up on US civil, criminal sides

http://app.parr-global.com/img/parr-logo-content.png PaRR Confirmed

Product is small, but ubiquitous
Raids an indication of large probe—attorney
Attorneys seeking capacitor customers

The raid of electronic capacitor companies in Japan this week is a further indication that antitrust enforcers may be pursuing a worldwide cartel involving the small, but ubiquitous product, antitrust attorneys said.

“This has the hallmarks of a major international cartel investigation,” said Philip Giordano, an attorney with Kaye Scholer and a 15-year veteran of the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) Antitrust Division. “The DoJ and its foreign counterparts are conducting parallel investigations. Many of the manufacturers under investigation are international conglomerates that sell into global markets.”

Giordano said the foreign raids suggest that the cartel activity was recent. He predicted that the probe may result in indictments against individuals and companies and large fines. He said, however, any fines might be tempered by the small cost of individual capacitors. And he questioned whether this probe could expand to include other passive electronic components.

Following a pattern evident in the worldwide probe of price-fixing among Japanese auto parts manufacturers, private attorneys in the US are now seeking clients to represent in civil suits against the manufacturers.

“We’ve been investigating it for several months,” said Joseph Saveri of the Joseph Saveri Law Firm. “It’s potentially a very large case.”

Saveri is not alone in seeking clients to represent in a capacitor lawsuit. The American Injury Attorney Group lists myriad capacitor manufacturers and wants their customers to contact the firm.

In the worldwide probe of price-fixing among Japanese auto parts companies, many direct and indirect purchasers have pursued civil suits seeking damages.

Earlier this week, the Japan Fair Trade Commission searched more than eight capacitor manufacturers seeking evidence of price fixing. As previously reported, Chinese and US regulators also are investigating the allegations. The probe was triggered when a Japanese company applied for leniency with antitrust agencies worldwide, including the Department of Justice (DoJ) and China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC); the two China-based sources told PaRR.

Capacitors are inexpensive parts that store an electronic charge and are found in most electronic products.

A spokesperson for the DoJ has confirmed the existence of a US probe, but declined further comment.

There are several different types of capacitors. An antitrust attorney familiar with the DoJ probe said the department is seeking information from manufacturers of electrolytic capacitors, aluminum capacitors, tantalum capacitors, and film capacitors.

Saveri said he does not believe that criminal charges are imminent. He said that while individual capacitors are inexpensive, they are “ubiquitous.”

Two associations representing capacitor manufacturers—the Power Sources Manufacturers Association and the Electronic Components Industry Association—did not respond to requests for comment.

by David Baumann in Washington DC
__________________________________________

Andrew Purdy
The Joseph Saveri Law Firm
505 Montgomery Street, Suite 625
San Francisco, CA 94111
415.500.6800
[email protected]

[mockingbird]

As much as I pity law-school graduates who have no choice but to engage in ambulance-chasing, if you keep feeding the system, the worthless baby boomer professors at the law schools keep preying on the young.

Start poking at nichicon and others with a stick, the quality of their products will suffer. In the words of Mr Spock: "Forbid! Forbid!".

[Behemot]

Quite a huge part of the final price in there is made of reseller margin, BUT a huge part of that is that stupid import and other legal bullshit. So you should more try to demont that fascism you have there (have you tried to order soemthing special from Digi Key? I have - never more, and it is YOU who will suffer in the long-term) and than the market will grow. Not by bilions of laws and green-paper printing.

Untill than, you can buy small quantities from me or people like me and pull them through your customs some way…you will suport us for higher volumes and even better prices, win-win for everybody, right?