RE: Advice from Peter

["David Goodman" <David.Goodman@liu.edu>]

Peter,

Do you mean discussions of pricing, discussions giving specific prices and
detail of contracts, or discussions of the advisability or legality of
having such discussions.

You give an opinion about the legality of private discussions at a
meeting. But I believe Karl was asking about public discussion at a
meeting. I, and you, have been at many a meeting where publishers
presented openly their pricing structure, generally for the purpose of
trying to convince prospective purchasers that they were getting a fair
deal. At any rate, I suggest that it is exactly the private arrangements
behind a closed door that are likely to be anticompetitive.

And I remember the title of the precursor to this list on the web, the
"Newsletter on Serials Pricing issues."

Extending your theory, is it legal to post a price list on the web, as
most publishers do?  Another publisher could use this information for such
purposes as not charging a higher price for similar material.

I have frequently given advice on pricing on this and other lists, in
various periodicals, and in many open and private conversations, and so
have many others.

I'm not a lawyer, as is obvious, but perhaps Peter is using the legal
structure that prohibits anticompetitive practices to prohibit the
discussion of pro-competitive practices.

Dr. David Goodman
Associate Professor
Palmer School of Library and Information Science
Long Island University
dgoodman@liu.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu on behalf of Peter Banks
Sent: Thu 11/10/2005 9:36 PM
To: Karl.Bridges@uvm.edu
Subject: Re: Response from Ted Bergstrom to Ann Okerson

Please don't make this into a publisher conspiracy.

I was making the point for the sake of participants in this list
serve--and Ann especially, whose neck is on the line. You should not
discuss pricing on any listserve, on any subject. If you doubt me, ask
your attorney.

What happens in private conversations at meetings is your business.

Peter Banks
Acting Vice President for Publications/Publisher
American Diabetes Association
Email: pbanks@diabetes.org

>>> Karl Bridges <Karl.Bridges@uvm.edu> 11/10/05 5:18 AM >>>

I guess this leads to my next question. If it's a problem to discuss this
in a listserv why are people doing it at conferences and why, if that
happened, did not the publishers in the room complain about it?

Quoting Peter Banks <pbanks@diabetes.org>:

> It definitely is potential restraint of trade--and dicussion of pricing
> on this, or any, list-serve, would be very unwise (most moderators slap
> the hands of those who even hint at discussion of pricing).
>
> Peter Banks
> American Diabetes Association
> Email: pbanks@diabetes.org