Information
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SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION
The United States of America, acting through its attorneys, charges: 1. THOMAS QUINN is made a defendant on the charge stated below. 2. From on or about April 1, 1999 until on or about June 15, 2002, the defendant's corporate employer, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. ("Samsung Semiconductor"), 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 defendant's corporate employer 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 defendant 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 defendant, his corporate employers, and coconspirators, the substantial terms of which were to agree to fix the prices for DRAM to be sold to certain OEMs and to coordinate bids offered by Sun Microsystems, Inc. ("Sun") on a lot of 1 Gigabyte Next-Generation Dual In-Line Memory Modules ("1 Gigabyte Next-Generation Modules") during a Sun auction on December 5, 2001. 4. For the purpose of forming and carrying out the charged combination and conspiracy, the defendant, his corporate employer, and coconspirators did those things that they combined and conspired to do, including, among other things:
5. During the time period covered by this Information:
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. 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 defendant, his 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 defendant, his 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 defendant, his corporate employer, and coconspirators that are the subject of this Information were within the flow of, and substantially affected, interstate and foreign trade and commerce. 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.
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