LEG500 Week 8

Description

AntitrustWeek 8 Discussion – Business Competition: Antitrust

Refer to Chapter 14 in your course textbook for this discussion.

Respond to the following:

In today’s economy, there are powerful companies that seem to control massive segments of different markets.

• Using the NEXIS-Uni Legal Database in the Strayer Library or the FTC website below, research a company that has been sued for anti-competitive behavior in the last five years.
  • Explain the facts of the lawsuit, why the actions were anti-competitive, and whether it is a horizontal restraint of trade or a vertical restraint of trade. (Explain these terms in your answer.)
    • (Note: Do NOT use Amazon, Google, Facebook, Qualcomm, Samsung, or Apple. Try to find a lawsuit from a company in your home state, if available).

Resources:

• Strayer Library Databases.
• NEXIS-Uni Legal Database.
• Federal Trade CommissionLinks to an external site..

Be sure to respond to one of your classmates’ posts. Please provide answers to the discussion questions that are researched, informed, and substantiated by citing sources following Strayer Writing Standards.

Classmate post:Hello everyone.

The case I chose to look at this week is Intuit, Incorporated vs Federal Trade Commission. This case is about the FTC taking action against Intuit, also known as Turbo Tax. Turbo Tax deceived customers with false advertising stating “free” tax filing that wasn’t able to be used by millions of consumers. Many consumers didn’t meet the requirements for free tax filing because they were 1099 customers or earn oncome from working on a farm. Many consumers are hit with charges when they file their taxes. Under the terms of the Administrative Law Judge’s order, which can be appealed to the full Commission, Intuit is “prohibited from engaging in deceptive practices in the future (1).” It also is barred from representing that any good or service is free, unless: 1) it is free for all consumers; 2) it clearly and conspicuously discloses any terms that would limit the offer and might be misunderstood by consumers; and 3) if the good or service is not free “to a majority of U.S. taxpayers,” this also must be disclosed in a clear and conspicuous manner (1).

The actions were anti-competitive because it made consumers believe they were getting to file their taxes for free, when by circumstances it is not true. This is a horizontal restraint of trade because this action was to lessen the competition with other tax preparing companies, by false advertising the free tax filing