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Promoting Competition, Protecting Consumers: A Plain English Guide to Antitrust Laws TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface An Antitrust Primer Illegal Business Practices Maintaining or Creating a Monopoly Mergers Price Discrimination Frequently Asked Questions Keeping Markets Competitive 简明反托拉斯法英文指南 目录： 序 言 反托拉斯入门 非法商事行为 维持和引发垄断 合并 价格歧视 常见问题 保持市场竞争性 Preface 序言： The Bureau of Competition of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) share responsibility for enforcing laws that promote competition in the marketplace. Competition benefits consumers by keeping prices low and the quality of goods and services high. 联邦贸易委员会竞争署和司法部反托拉斯局共同负责实施促进市场竞争的法律。市场竞争则是通过保持商品的低价以及商品和服务的高质量使消费者受益。 The FTC is a consumer protection agency with two mandates under the FTC Act: to guard the marketplace from unfair methods of competition, and to prevent unfair or deceptive acts or practices that harm consumers. These tasks often involve the analysis of complex business practices and economic issues. When the Commission succeeds in doing both its jobs, it protects consumer sovereignty -- the freedom to choose goods and services in an open marketplace at a price and quality that fit the consumer’s needs -- and fosters opportunity for businesses by ensuring a level playing field among competitors. In pursuing its work, the FTC can file cases in both federal court and a special administrative forum. 联邦贸易委员会是在《联邦贸易委员会法》规制下并拥有其两项授权的一个消费者保护机构：一是引导市场避免不公平的竞争；二是杜绝有损消费者利益的不公平或欺骗性的市场行为。它的这些任务通常包括了分析复杂的市场交易行为和有关的经济问题。当委员会成功地完成其任务时，消费者的主权就得到了很好的保护：他们自由地选择商品；以合适的价格和品质在一个公开的市场上接受服务；并通过整平市场竞争者之间的游戏场地来培育商机。为了实现其职能，联邦贸易委员会拥有在联邦法院和一专门的行政法庭的立案权。 The FTC has prepared this booklet to help you understand the antitrust laws -- how they can benefit consumers, and how they can affect you if you operate a business. The booklet explains how antitrust laws can be violated, answers frequently asked questions about potential violations, describes how you can help keep markets competitive, and tells where to find more information about the antitrust laws. 联邦贸易委员会特别准备了这个小册子以帮助您更好地理解反托拉斯法：如：它怎样使消费者受益；如果您正从事商业活动，它将怎样影响您的经营行为。同时，这本小册子还将介绍一些违反反托拉斯法的行为；回答一些常见的关于潜在违法性行为的问题；描述你可以如何帮助保持市场的竞争性；并告诉您在哪可能找到更多有关反托拉斯法的信息和资料。 The FTC also has available other publications that explain its numerous consumer protection activities. 当然，联邦贸易委员会还有一些介绍其经常性的消费者权益保护行动的出版物。 "Antitrust laws . . . are the Magna Carta of free enterprise. They are as important to the preservation of economic freedom and our free-enterprise system as the Bill of Rights is to the protection of our fundamental personal freedoms." --The Supreme Court, United States v. Topco Associates, Inc. 1972 “《反托拉斯法》-------在自由的企业制度中是位受欢迎者。其之于维持经济自由和我们自由的企业制度的重要性就像《人权法案》之于保护我们基本的人身自由的重要性那样.” 最高法院 United States v. Topco Associates Inc. 1972 An Antitrust Primer 反托拉斯入门 The antitrust laws describe unlawful practices in general terms, leaving it to the courts to decide what specific practices are illegal based on the facts and circumstances of each case. 反托拉斯法只是在总体上描述了一些非法的实践，而让各法院根据每个案件的事实和背景去确定其具体的违法行为。 Section 1 of the Sherman Act outlaws "every contract, combination . . . , or conspiracy, in restraint of trade," but long ago, the Supreme Court decided that the Sherman Act prohibits only those contracts or agreements that restrain trade unreasonably. What kinds of agreements are unreasonable is up to the courts. 《谢尔曼法》第一条宣布 “关于限制贸易的任何契约、合并、串谋”均为非法。但许久以前最高法院认为《谢尔曼法》禁止的只是那些不合理限制贸易的契约或协定。但具体哪一种协定是不合理的则由法院来确认。 Section 2 of the Sherman Act makes it unlawful for a company to "monopolize, or attempt to monopolize," trade or commerce. As that law has been interpreted, it is not necessarily illegal for a company to have a monopoly or to try to achieve a monopoly position. The law is violated only if the company tries to maintain or acquire a monopoly position through unreasonable methods. For the courts, a key factor in determining what is unreasonable is whether the practice has a legitimate business justification. 《谢尔曼法》第二条宣布一公司 “独占或企图独占”市场交易为非法。该法同时还作出解释：一公司拥有垄断或企图谋取垄断地位并不是构成非法的必要条件，只是当该公司通过某种不正当的手段试图维持或谋取垄断地位时，它才被认定是非法的。对于法院来说，确认其手段合理与否的一个关键因素是该公司对其所实施的行为是否有正当的商事抗辩理由。 Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act outlaws "unfair methods of competition" but does not define unfair. The Supreme Court has ruled that violations of the Sherman Act also are violations of Section 5, but Section 5 covers some practices that are beyond the scope of the Sherman Act. It is the FTC’s job to enforce Section 5. 《联邦贸易委员会法》第五条宣布 “不公平的竞争手段”为非法，但并未对所谓的 “不公平”下确切的定议。最高法院曾裁定违反《谢尔曼法》的行为同时也是违反本条规定的。然而，第五条还涵盖了一些超出谢尔曼法规制范围的违法行为。第五条的实施权是归属于联邦贸易委员会的。 Section 7 of the Clayton Act prohibits mergers and acquisitions where the effect "may be substantially to lessen competition, or to tend to create a monopoly." Determining whether a merger will have that effect requires a thorough economic evaluation or market study. 《克莱顿法》第七条禁止“可能有实质性弱化竞争或引有发垄断趋向”的效果的企业合并。确定一合并案是否有上述效果则需要彻底的经济效益评估和市场调查。 总共5页 1 |
