Online art seller agrees to guilty plea in justice's first e-commerce price-fixing prosecution
An agreement in an online price-fixing case is the Justice Department’s first criminal prosecution against an alleged antitrust conspiracy specifically targeting e-commerce.
David Topkins agreed to plead guilty to price-fixing and to pay a fine of $20,000, according to a Justice Department press release. Publications with stories include the Recorder (sub. req.), Reuters, the San Francisco Chronicle and Bay City News.
“We will not tolerate anticompetitive conduct, whether it occurs in a smoke-filled room or over the Internet,” Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer said in the news release. “American consumers have the right to a free and fair marketplace online, as well as in brick and mortar businesses.”
Topkins is accused of conspiring to fix the price of posters sold through Amazon Marketplace using computer code that incorporated pricing algorithms.
Topkins is described as an employee of “Company A” during the alleged conspiracy. The San Francisco Chronicle and Bay City News say Topkins was a director of Art.com during that time. The company had hired him after acquiring a business he co-founded called Poster Revolution.
