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About the
DSL Forum
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Policies & Procedures
DSL Forum Antitrust Guidelines
The DSL Forum is an international organization with members from around
the world. Accordingly, the activities of the Forum and its members
are subject to the antitrust laws of many countries. While antitrust
laws vary from country to country, nearly all of these laws prohibit
joint activities that restrain trade. In order to better serve the membership
of the DSL Forum and protect both the Forum and its participants, the
Board of Directors of the DSL Forum is issuing the following information
pertaining to the Forum's Antitrust guidelines and their enforcement.
The consequences of non-compliance with these guidelines can be very
serious for both the individuals involved and the Forum. These could
include criminal and civil penalties and even dissolution of the Forum.
The complete Antitrust guidelines can be found below.
It is important to note you must adhere by these guidelines not only
during the meetings of the Forum and its working groups, but also during
any activities that result as part of your attendance at the Forum.
It is inappropriate to discuss pricing, policies, etc., pass out brochures,
or show any kind of product in between sessions - in the hallways, the
elevators, over lunch, etc. Please take particular care to avoid questionable
topics in any Forum contribution.
In the event that you are part of a conversation that you sense is
a violation, you should disassociate yourself from it immediately. If
you feel that you have witnessed a blatant violation, please report
it to the Forum Secretariat
or a member of the Board of Directors for
action.
Enforcement of Guidelines
Should a violation of the Antitrust guidelines be brought to the attention
of the Forum, the following actions may be taken.
- Upon a first violation, the Chairman of the Forum will discuss the
incident with the individuals involved.
- Upon a second violation, the management of the member company involved
will be notified.
- Upon any further violation, the member company will be required
to send different reprsentation to the meeting, or to give up their
membership.
Please note that the Forum also may be obligated to report violations
to regulatory authorities.
Please read the guidelines below carefully and if you have any questions,
notify the Secretariat's office. Your questions will be answered promptly.
Antitrust Guidelines
As stated in its Bylaws, the DSL Forum must abide by antitrust laws
around the world. The group, of course, brings competitors together,
often with customers, and opportunities for collusion or exclusion abound.
Cooperative efforts themselves are perfectly legal, but it is important
that the DSL Forum conduct itself such that all meetings, programs,
and publications do not raise any questions about our compliance with
these laws. Accordingly, in an abundance of caution, the Forum guidelines
may go beyond the prohibitions of current law.
The penalties for violating antitrust laws can be quite severe, including
large fines and even imprisonment of individuals found guilty of illegal
conduct. Contrary to the popular belief that the federal government
has relaxed antitrust enforcement, in recent years the Justice Department
has recommended jail sentences for the majority of persons convicted
of violating antitrust laws. Moreover, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled
that an industry consortium such as the DSL Forum may be held legally
responsible for the unauthorized, as well as authorized, acts of its
members. Therefore, every effort must be made to avoid even the appearance
of impropriety of all DSL Forum members.
The most common violations of the antitrust laws are agreements among
competitors to fix prices or allocate customers. The DSL Forum's purpose
is to coordinate pre-competitive activities that benefit the entire
telecommunications industry. The DSL Forum does not involve itself in
individual member's activities or in the marketing of particular member's
products. Accordingly, it is not the business of the DSL Forum to consider
or discuss matters relating to product development, marketing, purchasing,
or pricing decisions of individual companies.
The attached guidelines set out a set of rules to live by, unworried
about antitrust. They are more proscriptive than descriptive, that is,
they direct or prohibit action rather than describe the law and let
members figure out for themselves what to do. However, these lists can
not be considered comprehensive. Member companies should be advised
to (1) when in doubt err on the side of caution and (2) seek corporate
counsel whenever a matter demanding interpretation arises.
DON'T
- IN FACT OR APPEARANCE, discuss or exchange information regarding;
- (a) Individual company current or projected prices, price changes,
price differentials, markups, discounts, allowances, terms and
conditions of sale, including credit terms, etc., or data that
bear on prices, including profits, margins, or costs.
- (b) Industry pricing policies, price levels, price changes,
differentials, or the like.
- (c) Changes in industry production, capacity, or inventories.
- (d) Individual company bids or intentions to bid for particular
products, procedures for responding to bid invitation, or specific
contractual arrangements
- (e) Plans of individual companies concerning the design, characteristics,
production, distribution, marketing, or introduction dates of
particular products, including proposed territories or customers.
- (f) Matters relating to actual or potential individual suppliers
or customers that might have the effect of excluding them from
any market or of influencing the business conduct of firms toward
suppliers or customers.
- (g) Individual company current or projected costs of procurement,
development, or manufacture of any product.
- (h) Individual company market shares for any product or for
all products.
- Discuss or exchange information regarding the above matters during
social gatherings incidental to DSL Forum-sanctioned meetings, even
in jest.
DO
- Prepare formal meeting agendas.
- Adhere to them
- Minute all meetings, review them, approve them.
- If you sense a violation, disassociate yourself from it immediately.
GENERAL GUIDELINES
- Neither The Forum nor any of its committees or activities shall
be used for the purpose of bringing about or attempting to bring about
any understanding or agreement, written or oral, formal or informal,
express or implied, among and between competitors with regard to prices,
terms or conditions of sale, distribution, volume of production, territories,
customers, credit terms, or marketing practices.
- There shall be no discussion, communication or other exchange between
members of The Forum and/or their representatives of prices, pricing
methods, production quotas or other limitations on either the timing,
costs, or volume of production or sale, or allocation of territories
or customers.
- No activity or communication of The Forum or any of its members
or representatives thereof shall include any discussions which might
be construed as an agreement or understanding to refrain, or to encourage
a member to refrain, from purchasing any raw materials, equipment,
services, or other supplies from any suppler or other dealing with
any supplier.
- No DSL Forum activity or communication, or that of its members or
the representatives thereof, shall include any discussion which might
be construed as an attempt to prevent any person or business entity
from gaining access to any market or customer for goods and services,
or to prevent any business entity from obtaining a supply of goods
or services or otherwise purchasing goods or services freely in the
market.
- The qualifications for membership in The Forum are set forth in
the Certificate of Incorporation and in the Bylaws of The Forum. No
applicant for membership, who otherwise meets the qualifications set
forth therein, shall be rejected for any anti-competitive purpose
or for the purpose of denying such applicant the benefits of membership.
Expulsion from membership in The Forum shall follow procedures established
in the Bylaws of the Forum, and shall not be for any anti-competitive
purpose.
- Neither The Forum nor any committee or member thereof shall make
any effort to bring about the standardization of any product or service
for the purpose or with the effect of preventing the manufacture,
sale, or supply of any product or service not conforming to a specified
standard, it being the express policy of The Forum that it shall not
compel or coerce any member into accepting or complying with any standard
either adopted, recognized, or approved by The Forum.
- To the extent that The Forum through its committees and membership
develops or approves specifications which, if followed, will permit
specific equipment and service to interoperate with any other equipment,
service or network, adherence to such specifications shall be voluntary
on the part of the members of The Forum and shall in no way be compelled,
directed, or coerced by The Forum or any committee thereof, it being
solely a voluntary decision on the part of the particular member or
members of The Forum as to whether to adhere to or comply with any
such specifications.
- Any specifications which may be developed or approved by the membership
of The Forum in order to effectuate the purposes of The Forum as set
forth in its Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws shall in no way
be based upon any effort, intention, or purpose of any of its members
to reduce or eliminate competition in the sale, supply, and furnishing
of products and services.
- Neither The Forum nor any committee thereof shall impose sanctions
for the violation of, nor shall they enforce compliance with, standards
or specifications developed, promulgated, recognized, or approved
by The Forum.
- Should a request be made by anyone for interpretation or definition
of a specification or standard developed, promulgated, recognized,
or approved by the DSL Forum, the committee which has received such
a request shall consult with the counsel for The Forum before providing
any such interpretation or definition.
- In conducting any Board of Directors, general, special, or committee
meetings of The Forum, the Chairman of each such meeting shall prepare
and follow a formal agenda. The discussion for consideration at any
such meeting of a topic beyond one set forth in the formal agenda
must be reviewed with counsel before any such discussion or consideration.
The minutes of all such meetings shall be reviewed in advance by counsel
before submission to the membership or Board of Directors, as the
case may be, for approval.
- Each member, and any new member, of The Forum shall be supplied
with a copy of these guidelines and agrees to abide by them.
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