The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "antitrust" ...
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Florida's Insurance Nightmare
Six years after eight hurricanes ripped across Florida, state residents still struggle to recover from the storms' legacy - a wrecked property insurance market. Exorbitant premiums, the highest in the world, have soured the state's struggling economy, killed real estate sales and forced families from their homes. Homeowners were told that unless they paid even more, no insurance company would take their hurricane risk. The Herald-Tribune showed that is a lie. Floridians have been lied to about why there is a crisis, where their money is going, and whether they're even protected against storm losses. Public policy has been corrupted by fiction spun by the insurance industry and its supposed regulators. Billions of dollars desperately needed for the next disaster have been siphoned offshore. And millions of homeowners are left to entrust their financial security on a system rigged to extort profit. To expose the hidden truth of Florida's insurance crisis, St. John cultivated key sources deep within every aspect of the insurance industry and sought massive amounts of financial and policy data from multiple state and national entities. When it became obvious Florida's crisis was manipulated from afar, she traveled to Bermuda and Monte Carlo to discover the hidden players truly in charge.
Tags: home insurance; property insurance; Florida; hurricane; real estate; insurance premiums; homeowners; Bermuda; Monte Carlo; state regulators; anti-trust law; State Farm
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The Unfolding Story
The stories "focused on two crucial elements of the MediaNews purchases: What did records from the antitrust suit reveal about attempted media concentration by MediaNews and Hearst and how would the newspaper purchases and any resulting partnerships between competitors impact the quality of news in the Bay Area?"
Tags: MediaNews; antitrust suits; media concentration; quality of news
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Access Denied
Washington Technology magazines investigates how an industry organization that has been registered as a nonprofit, is totally run by a for-profit company that prefers to keep its competitors out of membership. The group is a Coalition for Government Procurement that represents companies holding contract schedules with the General Services Administration. And the company that effectively runs the CGP is Washington Management Group Inc. (WMG) that has indirectly violated IRS regulations governing nonprofits and antitrust laws by shutting out prospective members.
Tags: immixGroup; Steve Charles; Larry Allen; Hope Lane; Selbre Associates; Bill Blocher; Blocher & Associates
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Browser Bruiser. Microsoft and Justice end a skirmish, yet war could escalate. Company agrees to unbundle internet software; will regulators widen case? Why Netscape still frets.
This article talks about Microsoft's struggle with Netscape and the Justice Department. It also includes some background information which explains how Microsoft got into antitrust problems, and what the company is doing and has done to resolve those problems.
Tags: Microsoft; Justice Department; Netscape; Bill Gates; Internet; Internet Explorer; antitrust; monopoly; computers; software
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Making Waves. As U.S. trade grow, shipping cartels get a bit more scrutiny. The price fixing pact hurt consumers, critics say; lines defend the system. How Philadelphia took a hit.
According to the article, "Every two weeks, in an unobtrusive office building here (in Rutherford, N.J.), about 20 shipping-line managers gather for their usual meeting. They sit around a long conference table, exchange small talk over bagels and coffee and then begin discussing what they will charge to move cargo across the Atlantic Ocean. All very routine, except for one detail: They don't work for the same company. Each represents a different shipping line, supposedly competing for business. Under U.S. antitrust law, most people doing this would end up in court."
Tags: U.S. trade; shipping; monopoly; business; boats; antitrust; cargo
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BP Spikes Prices
The story covers the alleged manipulation of West Coast crude oil prices by BP, based on 4,000 pages of evidence released from the antitrust case concerning the merger between BP and Amoco. By practicing exports to Far East at a lower net prices, using a computer software to determine the maximum possible accepted price for the crude oil delivered to rafineries and charging differenciated prices for the same product, the scheme contributed to the reason why West Coast motorists pay about 20 cents more/gallon than the national average. Four follow up stories are also included.
Tags: Amoco; BP; West Coast; Alaska; pipeline; antitrust; merger; motorist; crude oil; rafinery; FTC
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Bidding War
The New Yorker follows an antitrust investigation of a criminal price-fixing conspiracy between auction houses Sotheby's and Christie's. The story reveals that the investigation instigated a race "to see who could betray whom," resulting from the practice of American antitrust system to encourage the cooperation of informants. The article details the history of both auction houses, as well as the long litigation and settlement process in which they have been involved.
Tags: Sherman Antitrust Act; competitive market; trusts; monopolists; prices; Justice Department; lawyers; judges; courts; commissions; jurisdiction; criminal conspiracy; crime
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With Its Old Playbook, Microsoft Is Muscling Into New Web Markets (other additional articles)
The Wall Street Journal reports on Microsoft's new web markets and the benefits they will bring to consumers. But in additional articles, reporters discuss the recent court rulings involving Microsoft and their impact on the company. Furthermore, one article states that besides the federal government, Microsoft "could be pursued on three separate fronts: by state attorneys general, by corporate rivals that claim injury from Microsoft's anticompetitive practices, and class-action lawsuits on behalf of consumers." These articles also include a timeline from October 21,1997 to June 28, 2001 on the Microsoft antitrust case.
Tags: Microsoft; computers; consumers; judges; courts; monopoly; contributions; lobbyists; U.S. District Court of Appeals; investors; market
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Merger Mania
This article looks at the current increase in mergers as it relates to federal regulation and the changing global economy from such companies as Time Warner and America Online, Exxon and Mobile, WorldCom and Sprint.
Tags: Business; mergers; regulation; antitrust; government
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Disconnected; Bells are ringing; Liars on the line
Westword reports that "US West, the company that provides local telephone service to Colorado and 13 other states, has become known for poor service. Many Colorado residents have faced delays of up to six months or longer in getting lines installed in their homes." This series explored the reasons for the low quality of US West's service.
Tags: telecommunications; phone companies; consumer affairs Qwest Communications merger Public Utilities Commission anti-trust competition deregulation