R-P claims have been controversial for many years because the policy
embodied there can be viewed as anti-"price competitive." The FTC
doesn't bother anymore to my knowledge. Some private litigants
occasionally throw in R-P claims, but I doubt that they ever get
beyond the pretrial stage. R-P doesn't apply at the end-user consumer
level, so unless this is B2B pricing, there probably wouldn't be any
cause of action. If someone is a price discrimination expert (I
haven't taught the stuff in a couple of years), please confirm or
deny the views expressed here.
Best, Jim Highsmith

>Here's a query I got from an accounting colleague of mine...any
>comments would be appreicated.
>
>Dan
>
>Hi Dan.
>I have a business law question.  I'm teaching students about
>internet pricing schemes.  It appears that businesses are using the
>Internet to practice some segmented pricing - offering different
>customers different prices.  It seems to me that the Robinson Patman
>act (which I vaguely recall from my business law courses) said that
>you could only charge different prices if you could show that there
>were also different costs - for instance, lower distribution costs.
>Is this true?  Are there any regulations regarding pricing these
>days?  Is anyone concerned about Internet pricing?
>


"Things are not the same; they never were." Anonymous

James Highsmith
Verna Mae and Wayne A. Brooks Professor of Business Law
Craig School of Business
California State University Fresno
President Elect, Academy of Legal Studies in Business (International)
209-278-2208   [log in to unmask]