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British Company Charged With Fixing Prices Of Posters On Amazon

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - An owner of a British company is facing a charge in federal court in San Francisco that he conspired to fix the price of posters sold online through Amazon Marketplace.

An indictment unsealed on Thursday charges Daniel William Aston and his company, Trod Ltd., with felony price fixing. Prosecutors say Aston and co-conspirators agreed to adopt specific pricing algorithms for certain posters to try to make sure they were sold online at the same price and to coordinate any price changes.

A Justice Department antitrust division spokesman, Mark Abueg, said officials declined additional comment because the investigation was still pending. The indictment did not name Aston's alleged co-conspirators, though another poster company employee, David Topkins, pleaded guilty to price fixing in April in a related case.

It was not clear whether Aston had an attorney.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.

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