Samsung Exec Guilty of RAM Price Fixing
Samsung Exec Guilty of RAM Price Fixing
by , 9:10 AM EDT, September 22nd, 2006
The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday said that Samsung's vice president of marketing, Thomas Quinn, plead guilty to memory price fixing and will serve eight months in jail. According to InfoWorld, Mr. Quinn was accused of participating in a price-fixing conspiracy.
The DOJ claimed that he helped arrange a scheme to fix the price of DRAM chips and coordinate chip bids in a Sun Microsystems auction on December 5, 2001.
Mr. Quinn agreed to plead guilty and pay a US$250,000 fine in addition to serving jail time. He will also assist in the ongoing price fixing investigation that the DOJ is conduction with the FBI.
Three other Samsung executives plead guilty in similar DOJ charges in March. Samsung's senior manager of DRAM sales, Sun Woo Lee, agreed to a deal that includes an eight month prison sentence. Yeongho Kang, associate director of DRAM Marketing, and Young Woo Lee, sales director for Samsung's German subsidiary, agreed to deals that include seven month prison sentences. All are paying $250,000 fines as well.
In July, 34 states filed cases against several chip makers, for artificially inflating memory prices.
Observer Comments
Fri Sep 22, 2006 11:53 am Subject: Giant misunderstanding
When investigators raided Samsung's corporate headquarters to talk to Mr. Quinn, they closed the door to interrogate him. Quinn remained behind his desk, with 2 investigators seated comfortably in front of him, and 3 investigators standing menacingly behind them.
Whoooosh
Investigator 1: What was that?
Mr. Quinn: What?
Investigator 2: That sound. I heard it too.
Investigator 3: Sir, I think it came from the desk.
Whoooosh
Investigator 1: OK Mr. Quinn, enough of the funny business. What is that sound.
Mr. Quinn: Ummmmmm.....
Investigator 4 moves behind the desk, looks under and discover's Mr. Quinn's pants around his ankles and some sort of tube mechanism attached to his [CENSORED].
Mr. Quinn: I am so embarrassed. Please don't tell my wife and kids. Could we make up a story about how this is my "memory price inflator"? I'll plead guilty to anything, even do jail time. Does my lawyer even have to know about this?
Investigator 1: I think we've got our man, agents.
Fri Sep 22, 2006 12:08 pm Subject: Let's hope this puts an end to Apple's ludicrous RAM prices
Sun Sep 24, 2006 2:26 am Subject: Bosco's Comments
Comments are currently closed. Please email the author instead.
Recent Headlines - Updated November 9th
- Mon, 7:20 PM
- Rumor - Apple May Update iPod touch in December
- 6:45 PM
- Product News - MacUpdate Desktop Updated to 5.0.1 with New Features, Bug Fixes
- 5:16 PM
- Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.6.2 - Guest Account Bug Fixed, Much More
- 4:12 PM
- Games - New For iPhone: Star Rangers, Air Force Supremacy, Blood Beach, More
- 2:51 PM
- Apple Stock Watch - Radio Shack Jumps 14% on iPhone Deal, Apple Up 3%
- 2:25 PM
- Games - EA Scoops Up Social Games Publisher Playfish
- 1:51 PM
- Deal Brothers - Western Digital 1TB SATA Intellipower Hard Drive: $84.99
- 10:58 AM
- News - StarHub Signs Singapore iPhone Deal
- 10:36 AM
- Hot Forum Topic - Reader Speculation: What’s in Apple’s Tablet?
- 10:08 AM
- News - Apple Kicks Off New Credit Program
- 9:26 AM
- News - Apple Launches Reserve and Pick Up Program
- 8:49 AM
- News - ikee Worm Rickrolls Jailbroken iPhones
The Mac Observer Reader Specials
- TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com
RamJet Memory: Mac Pro 8-core 8GB Kit $199.99, 4GB Kits $109.99! Sale on MacBook and MacBook Pro 8GB kits $549.99! New MacBook DDR3 2GB for $49.99. iMac and Mac mini 4GB Kits for $79.99! 1TB SATA Hard Drives for $109.99! Click here
OWC: Get the Right Memory / Ram for your Mac. Top Quality, Competitive Prices, Lifetime Warranty. Expert Support and Video Installation Guidies too! 4.0GB Matched Sets from $87.99, Options up to 32GB. Click here
If you're using a Mac, then you've gotta check out Full Tilt Poker for Mac. This Full Tilt Poker bonus code does the unthinkable, it actually rewards!For the latest Apple products use Ciao, a price comparison website, to find laptops like MacBook Air. Then find the best prices on MP3 players and use our comparison tool to evaluate mobile phones like the Apple iPhone.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.
