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U.S. v. Russell-Stanley
Corporation
Criminal No.: 93-299 (E.D. Pa.)
Three-count information
was filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
charging Russell-Stanley Corporation of Red Bank, New Jersey,
with fixing the prices, in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman
Act, of new steel drums offered for sale to customers in Maine,
New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island,
eastern New York, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland,
Delaware, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Russell-Stanley
Corporation was also charged with one count of mail fraud, 18
U.S.C. § 1341 and one count of obstruction of justice, 18
U.S.C. § 1503.
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| 6/9/93 |
U.S.
v. Primestar Partners. L.P., et al.
Civil No.: 93-CIV-3913 (S.D.N.Y.)
A civil complaint was
filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York,
against Primestar Partners L.P., its 10 member companies, and
the parent companies of its multiple system operator members.
Primestar Partners, L.P., based in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania,
is a joint venture partnership formed by some of the nation's
largest cable television companies, some of which are also
leading suppliers of video programming. Simultaneously, a consent
decree was filed which, if approved by the court, will resolve
the suit.
The defendant Primestar
members and their principal offices are:
--ATC Satellite Inc.,
Stamford, CT;
--Comcast DBS
Inc., Philadelphia, PA;
--Continental
Satellite Company Inc., Findlay, OH;
--Cox Satellite
Inc., Atlanta, GA;
--GE Americom
Services Inc., a subsidiary of General Electric
Co., with its principal office in Princeton, NJ;
--New Vision Satellite, East Syracuse, NY;
--TCI K-1 Inc., Denver, CO;
--United Artists
K-1 Investments Inc., Denver, CO;
--Viacom K-Band Inc., New York City, NY;
--Warner Cable SSD Inc., Stamford, CT.
Seven multiple cable
system operators (MSOs) that are corporate parents of Primestar
members were also named as defendants:
--Tele-Communications
Inc., Denver, CO;
--Time Warner
Inc., New York City; NY;
--Continental
Cablevision Inc., Boston, MA;
--Comcast Corporation,
Philadelphia, PA;
--Cox Enterprises
Inc., Atlanta, GA;
--Newhouse Broadcasting
Corporation, East Syracuse, NY;
--Viacom Inc.,
Dedham, MA.
Primestar was formed
in order to offer a multichannel subscription television service,
called "Primestar," which is transmitted directly to consumers
via a medium-power satellite owned by GE American Communications
Inc. This type of service, commonly referred to as direct broadcast
satellite (DBS), uses a relatively small home satellite dish that
is less expensive to install than large home satellite dishes
and is a potential substitute for cable television service. The
complaint alleged that the defendants engaged in a continuing
agreement, combination and conspiracy to restrain competition
in multichannel subscription television service by forming Primestar
Partners, L.P. to block other firms from entering the DBS business
in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. The complaint also
alleged that the effect of the Primestar venture has been to delay,
if not prevent, entry into the DBS business through an agreement
to restrict access to programming owned or controlled by the venture's
partners to other companies that want to start a competing DBS
service. "Without adequate programming, a service competitive
with existing cable monopolies can't get off the ground," said
John W. Clark, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of
the Antitrust Division. "Primestar's formation made programming
much more difficult to obtain, and deterred entry by others."
The consent decree forbids the defendants from enforcing any provision
of the Primestar partnership agreement that affects the availability,
price, terms, or conditions of programming to any provider of
multichannel subscription television. The decree further prohibits
the defendants from agreeing to take any action against a person
who provides programming to, or invests in, any provider of multichannel
subscription television. The decree also prohibits the MSO defendants
from reaching agreements with each other that would affect the
availability, price, terms or conditions on which programming
could be made available to other providers of multichannel subscription
television. The decree prohibits the MSO defendants from entering
into or renewing any agreements with specified programming services
that contain exclusive distribution provisions. The decree would
prevent the possible anticompetitive consequences of the Primestar
venture, while still allowing Primestar to continue to provide
DBS service to consumers.
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