14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that this month is filled with developments on the legal front, and this extends to more than just the antitrust case between NVIDIA and Rambus. While those two companies are appealing court rulings, a so-called conspiracy case is still in progress, with regards to an LCD price fixing cartel that illegally modified the prices of TFT liquid crystal display panels. The latest to plead guilty in this lawsuit before the US Department of Justice is a former executive of Chi Mei Optoelectronics.
According to an announcement made a short time ago, Wen-Hung "Amigo" Huang was directly involved with others in the suppression and elimination of competition by engaging in questionable practices. Huang is a resident of Taiwan and led the sales division at CMO, the company that is now merged with Innolux Display as part of Chimei Innolux (CMI). Huang pleaded guilty following an agreement with the legislative authorities.
The lawsuit found reason to believe that Huang, as well as the other companies involved in the cartel, issues price quotations and exchanged information on the sales of TFT-LCD panels. Their goal was to monitor the adherence to the prices that had previously been agreed upon. Huang will serve nine months in prison and will have to pay a criminal fine of US$25,000. He will also have to assist the department in its ongoing investigations. This is just the latest such fine that resulted from this legal action. In fact, more than US$890 million have been obtained to date.
Moving forward, the Department of Justice will keep looking into the actions of the 18 executives charged with participation in the conspiracy. This group includes Huang and is made up of persons employed by eight different companies. What remains to be seen is how long it will take for the suit to root out all the ones involved.