NIALL E. LYNCH (State Bar No. 157959)	Filed March 1, 2006

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

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA	)	No. CR 06-0126 (JSW)
)

)	INFORMATION

v.	)

)

)	VIOLATION:

D.S. KIM; C.K. CHUNG; K.C. SUH; and	)	Title 15, United States Code,

C.Y. CHOI	)	Section 1 (Price Fixing)

)

Defendants.	)

____________________________________)	San Francisco Venue

The United States of America, acting through its attorneys, charges:

I.

DESCRIPTION OF THE OFFENSE

1.	DAE SOO (D.S.) KIM, CHAE KYUN (C.K.) CHUNG, KUN CHUL (K.C.) SUH, and CHOON YUB (C.Y.) CHOI, are made defendants on the charge stated below.

2.	From on or about April 1, 1999 until on or about June 15, 2002, the defendants' corporate employers, Hynix Semiconductor, Inc. ("Hynix") and Hynix Semiconductor America Inc. ("Hynix America") and Hynix Semiconductor Deutschland GmbH ("Hynix Germany"), and 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' corporate employers and 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). The defendants joined and participated in the charged conspiracy at various periods of time from as early as April 1, 2001, until on or about June 15, 2002.

3.	The charged combination and conspiracy consisted of a continuing agreement, understanding, and concert of action among the defendants, their corporate employers, and 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, their corporate employers, and coconspirators did those things that they combined and conspired to do, including, among other things:

(a)	participating in meetings, conversations, and communications in the United States and elsewhere to discuss the prices of DRAM to be sold to certain OEMs;

(b)	agreeing, during those meetings, conversations, and communications, to charge prices of DRAM at certain levels to be sold to certain OEMs;

(c)	issuing price quotations in accordance with the agreements reached;

(d)	exchanging information on sales of DRAM to certain OEM customers, for the purpose of monitoring and enforcing adherence to the agreed-upon prices; and

(e)	authorizing, ordering and consenting to the participation of subordinate employees in the conspiracy.

II.

DEFENDANTS AND COCONSPIRATORS

5. During the time period covered by this Information:

(a) Hynix was a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Korea, with its headquarters and principal place of business in Ichon, Korea. Hynix's wholly-owned subsidiary Hynix America was a corporation organized and existing under the laws of California. Hynix's wholly-owned subsidiary Hynix Germany was a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Germany. Hynix was engaged in the business of producing and, through its subsidiaries including Hynix America and Hynix Germany, selling DRAM to customers in the United States and elsewhere.

(b) D.S. Kim was employed as Hynix's Senior Vice President and General Manager, Worldwide Sales & Marketing;

(c) C.K. Chung was employed as Hynix's Director, Global Strategic Account Sales for Memory Products;

(d) K.C. Suh was employed as Senior Manager, Memory Product Marketing, for Hynix, and Vice President for Product Marketing & Operations, and Vice President for Operations, for Hynix America; and

(e) C.Y. Choi was employed as General Manager, Marketing and Sales Support, for Hynix Germany.

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 COMMERCE

8.	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, their corporate employer, and 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 defendants, their corporate employer, and 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, their corporate employers, and 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 VENUE

11.	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.

_/s/ Thomas O. Barnett/By CDH_	__________/s/___________

Thomas O. Barnett	Phillip H. Warren

Assistant Attorney General	Chief, San Francisco Office

_________/s/________________	__________/s/___________

Scott D. Hammond	Niall E. Lynch, Assistant Chief

Deputy Assistant Attorney General	Nathanael M. Cousins

May Y. Lee

Brigid S. Biermann

Attorneys

U.S. Department of Justice

_________/s/________________	Antitrust Division

Marc Siegel	450 Golden Gate Ave.

Director of Criminal Enforcement	Box 36046, Room 10-0101

San Francisco, CA 94102

United States Department of Justice	(415) 436-6660

Antitrust Division

__/s/ Joann M. Swanson for_____

Kevin V. Ryan	2-28-06

Acting United States Attorney

Northern District of California

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