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Algorithms can aid price collusion, even if no humans actually talk to each other, US enforcers say

The DOJ and FTC weighed in on a case about hotel pricing.

The Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission jointly submitted a statement of interest in Cornish-Adebiyi v. Caesars Entertainment, a case brought before the US District Court of New Jersey. The plaintiffs are trying to show that the hotels violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act, which prohibits “conspiracy in restraint of trade” and is used to prosecute illegal price-fixing. They’ve already filed similar statements in other algorithmic price-fixing cases, like in one lawsuit against rental property management software company RealPage.

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