C|M|LAW’s James A. Thomas Distinguished Professor of Law Chris Sagers posted The Fate of Apple and Antitrust: Overcoming Confusion About the eBooks Case today in the Huffington Post.  In this post, Sagers explains that “[d]efendant Apple, as the government has shown by overwhelming evidence, orchestrated a garden variety price-fixing conspiracy among five of the six large publishing companies that dominate electronic books. They had motive to do it and the evidence is strong that they successfully raised retail prices for a long time.”  He explains why, although the case seems complicated, it is not, and he predicts that Apple will lose.

To read the post, click here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-sagers/the-fate-of-apple-and-ant_b_3480835.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=3876008b=facebook

There has been a fair amount of legitimate hand-wringing in Ohio over the business practices of some landmen operating in the state on behalf of some drilling companies. There also are a fair number of people who have never heard of a land man and can’t imagine their role in the oil and gas exploration and production industry.  In her role as a blogger for Crain’s Shale Report, Robertson explains the role of landmen in the shale oil and gas development process and the concerns they raise for landowners.

Robertson notes that landmen are paid by oil and gas companies to secure mineral leases with terms favorable to the companies. To entice their target landowners, landmen often offer upfront bonuses and royalty payments. But it’s difficult for landowners, who are understandably not savvy to the ins and outs of oil and gas leases, to know what the lease might really be worth.

Landmen, eager for their commissions, are known to hurry landowners into signing on the proverbial dotted line. They may tell the landowners that their neighbors have already signed, whether or not that is true. They may tell the landowners that if they don’t sign immediately, the deal will disappear. For people without means, the upfront money may be too good to resist, even if it binds them to an unfavorable lease.

Although there have been legislative efforts to regulate landman conduct, none has succeeded in Ohio to date.  There are voluntary codes of conduct that help, but not enough.  In this post, Robertson highlights those efforts as well as some progress in the area of information availability.

To read the blog post, click here:

http://www.crainscleveland.com/article/20130614/SHALEBLOGS/306149996

CardHub.com, an on-line resource for everything concerning credit cards, recently posted an article on its website entitled, Why Do Credit Card Costs Vary So Widely?  Following the article, the site included comments by experts in the field, including C|M|LAW Professor Gwendolyne Roberts Majette.  The post describes the findings of a recent report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services showing that the prices  hospitals charge insurance providers vary widely within and among regions, states, and even  individual hospitals.

Following the article, experts in the field were asked “What do you make of [the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’] findings?”

Majette said that “The use and purchase of health care services is unlike other services.  Health care is one of the few services that individuals receive without knowing the price in advance.  This is because many people use some type of insurance to purchase these services.  It is also because health care is ‘special.’  Receipt of health care can prevent death, serious illness, disability, and the spread of contagious diseases.  Thus there is a desire to not allow costs to prevent receipt of necessary care.”

The mere fact that CMS is collecting and publishing this data will affect future prices because consumers, regulators, and researchers can use the information to comparison shop and begin to investigate further the reasons for the price variation.  Additionally, the hospitals themselves now know what their competitors’ prices are and they will have to justify the prices they charge in the future.  Antitrust laws preclude hospitals from sharing their prices with each other.”

To read the full post, see:

http://www.cardhub.com/edu/ask-the-experts-health-care-pricing-disparities/