U.S. Department
of Justice
Information
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| NIALL E. LYNCH (State Bar No. 157959) NATHANAEL M. COUSINS (State Bar No. 177944) MAY Y. LEE (State Bar No. 209366) BRIGID S. BIERMANN (State Bar No. 231705) Antitrust Division U.S. Department of Justice 450 Golden Gate Avenue Box 36046, Room 10-0101 San Francisco, CA 94102 Telephone: (415) 436-6660 Attorneys for the United States SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION
The United States of America, acting through its attorneys, charges: I. DESCRIPTION OF THE OFFENSE1. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY, LIMITED and SAMSUNG SEMICONDUCTOR, INC. are made defendants on the charge stated below. 2. From on or about April 1, 1999, until on or about June 15, 2002, defendants and their coconspirators, entered into and engaged in a combination and conspiracy in the United States and elsewhere to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing the prices of Dynamic Random Access Memory ("DRAM") to be sold to certain original equipment manufacturers of personal computers and servers ("OEMs"). The combination and conspiracy engaged in by the defendants and their coconspirators was in unreasonable restraint of interstate and foreign trade and commerce in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. § 1). 3. The charged combination and conspiracy consisted of a continuing agreement, understanding, and concert of action among the defendants and their coconspirators, the substantial terms of which were to agree to fix the prices for DRAM to be sold to certain OEMs. 4. For the purpose of forming and carrying out the charged combination and conspiracy, the defendants and their coconspirators did those things that they combined and conspired to do, including, among other things:
5. SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY, LTD. is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the Republic of Korea, and its wholly owned subsidiary SAMSUNG SEMICONDUCTOR, INC. is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of California. During the period covered by this Information, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS COMPANY, LTD. and SAMSUNG SEMICONDUCTOR, INC. were engaged in the business of producing and selling DRAM to customers in the United States and elsewhere. 6. Various corporations and individuals, not made defendants in this Information, participated as coconspirators in the offense charged in this Information and performed acts and made statements in furtherance of it. 7. Whenever in this Information reference is made to any act, deed, or transaction of any corporation, the allegation means that the corporation engaged in the act, deed, or transaction by or through its officers, directors, employees, agents, or other representatives while they were actively engaged in the management, direction, control, or transaction of its business or affairs. III. TRADE AND COMMERCE8. DRAM is the most commonly used semiconductor memory product. DRAM provides high-speed storage and retrieval of electronic information in personal computers, servers, and other devices. All references to DRAM in this Information include semiconductor memory devices and modules. 9. During the period covered by this Information, the defendants and their coconspirators sold and distributed DRAM in a continuous and uninterrupted flow of interstate and foreign trade and commerce to customers located in states or countries other than the states or countries in which the defendant and its coconspirators produced DRAM. The OEMs that were affected by the conspiracy to suppress and eliminate competition were: Dell Inc., Compaq Computer Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, Apple Computer, Inc., International Business Machines Corporation, and Gateway, Inc. 10. The business activities of the defendants and their coconspirators that are the subject of this Information were within the flow of, and substantially affected, interstate and foreign trade and commerce. IV. JURISDICTION AND VENUE11. The combination and conspiracy charged in this Information was carried out, in part, in the Northern District of California, within the five years preceding the filing of this Information. ALL IN VIOLATION OF TITLE 15, UNITED STATES CODE, SECTION 1.
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