The companies have to pay a cumulative $553 million

Dec 28, 2011 14:12 GMT  ·  By

LCD manufacturers really haven't been taking care of their records as well as they should have.

Oddly enough, it happens again that, just as people are trying to enjoy holiday cheer, courts issue huge fines.

At least this once it is corporations that have to cough up the cash instead of random people.

Sharp, Samsung, Hitachi, Epson, Chi Mei, HannStar and Chunghwa have been found guilty of participating in a conspiracy to inflate the prices of LCDs used in notebooks, TVs and monitors.

The cartel operated for years until it came to the attention of the United States District Court (Northern California, San Francisco Division) back in December, 2006.

Several companies and executives pleaded guilty some time after the probe into the allegations.

The $553 million settlement is just the latest set of fines in a string of courtroom actions against alleged anticompetitive behavior.