Antitrust Policy in Aftermarkets
نویسنده
چکیده
Many recent antitrust cases concern aftermarkets: markets for goods or services used together with durable equipment but purchased after the consumer has invested in the equipment. Examples include computer parts, software upgrades, repair manuals, and training. Durable goods manufacturers are often the dominant providers of aftermarket products. The cases involve a variety of alleged anticompetitive aftermarket behaviors by durable goods manufacturers, especially ties between proprietary and non-proprietary aftermarket services. For example, equipment maintenance has been tied to: parts;' software upgrades; ' diagnostic software and manuals;' engineering changes and timing diagrams;4 and emergency service calls.5 In all of the cases, the plaintiffs allege that customers are "locked in" by their prior investment in the manufacturer's
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