| It has been found that when amending the Patriot Act this past March, the U.S. government added a clause permitting wiretaps and bugs for investigation of suspected antitrust law violations, such as price fixing.
The revised law may cause significant damage to major Korean companies, the bulk of whose exports go to the U.S., as they could come under investigation on breaking antitrust laws by just making contact with competing firms.
The Dong-A Ilbo confirmed the legislation data disclosed by the U.S. administration which shows that Section 113 of the Patriot Act amendments, passed by the U.S. Congress on March 7, now includes illegal monopolizing in trade and commerce, as stipulated in Sherman Anti-trust Act, in the list of crimes that fall under the Patriot Act.
The amendments took effect two days later on March 9 with the signature by U.S. President George W. Bush. The revision, however, has not been advertised much in either the U.S. or Korea, so large Korean corporations have been unable to equip themselves for the change.
The altered Patriot Act allows FBI or CIA agents to use any antitrust law violation charges, which they find while wiretapping for general intelligence-gathering, for their investigations.
Moreover, the U.S. has a broad definition of trust activities, to include not only fixing prices or rigging bids but also ordinary data-collecting when the employees of one company exchange phone calls or emails with those in a competing company for information.
The U.S. is taking a very strict line against suspicions of antitrust law violations, as shown in a recent case when New York state attorneys charged seven semiconductor firms, including Samsung Electronics, for price collusion.
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