Federal Trade Commission/Department of Justice Hearings on Single-Firm Conduct to Continue on November 29

Session To Be Held in Washington, DC to Focus on Loyalty Discounts

The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division today announced that the latest in a series of joint public hearings designed to examine the implications of single-firm conduct under the antitrust laws will take place on Nov. 29, 2006, in Washington, DC. As previously announced, these hearings will examine whether and when specific types of single-firm conduct may violate Section 2 of the Sherman Act by harming competition and consumer welfare and when they are pro-competitive and lawful. The hearings will continue during the coming months.

The panel on Nov. 29 will explore loyalty discounts. The sessions will be held at the FTC’s Conference Center at 601 New Jersey Ave., N.W., Washington, DC, Conference Room C.

Further information is provided below:

Loyalty Discounts (9:30 A.M. - Noon):

Joseph Kattan is a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

Thomas Lambert is an associate professor of law at the University of Missouri School of Law.

Barry Nalebuff is the Milton Steinbach professor of management at the Yale University School of Management.

David Sibley is the John T. Stuart III centennial professor in economics at the University of Texas at Austin and a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.

Loyalty Discounts (1:30 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.):

Daniel A. Crane is an associate professor of law at the Yeshiva University Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

Timothy J. Muris is a George Mason University Foundation professor of law, Of Counsel at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, and a former Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission.

Janusz Ordover is a professor of economics at New York University and a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.

Willard K. Tom is a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and a former Deputy Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition.

The public and press are invited to attend all of the hearings. Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Interested parties may submit written comments to the FTC and the Antitrust Division.

Further information about these hearings will be posted on the FTC’s Web site, http://www.ftc.gov/os/sectiontwohearings/index.htm and the Antitrust Division’s Web site,
http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/hearings/single_firm/sfchearing.htm. Individuals seeking more information on the hearings should contact Patricia Schultheiss, FTC, at section2hearings@ftc.gov, or Gail Kursh, Deputy Chief, Legal Policy Section, Antitrust Division, at singlefirmconduct@usdoj.gov.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint, or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to thousands of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

Media Contact:

Mitchell J. Katz,
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2161

Staff Contact:

Patricia Schultheiss,
202-326-2877