[/floatr]Yomiuri: Usen told to pay 2 bil. yen to main rival
The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday ordered major cable broadcaster Usen Corp. to pay 2.05 billion yen in compensation to Cansystem Co., a rival company, for unfairly poaching its staff and conducting an illegal campaign to lure away its subscribers. Cansystem, the industry's second-largest firm, had sought compensation of about 11.3 billion yen. Presiding Judge Minoru Hatakeyama said on handing down the ruling, "Usen impinged on Cansystem's business performance by unfairly luring employees away and engaging in illegal business practices." Usen plans to appeal the ruling. According to the ruling, Usen and one of its affiliated companies poached about 500 employees from Cansystem--about 30 percent of the firm's workforce--over a period of about a month in July 2003. These staffers were then employed at the affiliate. In addition, Usen snatched about 48,000 subscribers from Cansystem by exclusively targeting them in a campaign offering discounted subscription fees. Usen's market share increased from 67 percent to 72 percent around the time of the campaign. In light of this, Hatakeyama stated: "The poaching of staff went beyond merely persuading employees to switch companies. The campaign was tantamount to the actions of a private monopoly, prohibited under the Antimonopoly Law." The amount the court ordered Usen to pay its rival was Cansystem's estimated loss in operating profit stemming from Usen's illicit practices. In September 2004, the Fair Trade Commission issued Usen and its affiliated companies with a notice advising them to end the campaign as it violated the law on private monopolies.
