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Message:: [QUOTE="Nerva, post: 2794135, member: 87761"]One clarification here. The law applies per se, which means you cannot defend yourself by saying your bid agreement didn't actually make much much difference because it was only two people. There is no debate on that point. Two local contractors agreeing their bids on government contracts can't say "but there are so many other potential bidders out there". If you made an agreement that violates this law, consequence is irrelevant. And actually two people agreeing absolutely does have an effect. Look at how many lots are sold to a single bid, or two bids, or unsold. That gives an impression of market depth. The market for Dutch old masters soared when literally three or four deep-pocketed collectors were competing hard. Now they're less active, prices are falling. Plenty of other examples where only a few bidders have made a big difference. Finally a point of happy agreement is that we can all agree this isn't a sinister plot and everyone is trying to do the right thing as they understand it, even if we have different views of the ethics. But even if you disagree with me on the law, I hope the debate has at least encouraged a degree of caution in public posts. Even if I'm wrong, I'm probably not the only one thinking along these lines. That's in reply to a number of posts that appeared overnight, including [USER=76194]@Sallent[/USER] @h8modern [USER=76086]@Ken Dorney[/USER] [USER=39084]@IdesOfMarch01[/USER][/QUOTE]