When the going gets tough, even the tough guys of technology aren’t spared from the law. LG, Sharp Corp. and Chunghwa Picture Tubes are three companies who have agreed to pay a total of $585 million in criminal fines for conspiring to illegally fix prices in the sale of liquid crystal display panels. The decision was made by the U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday. Of the total, Sharp will pay $120 million, LG Display Co. of South Korea $400 million, the second highest criminal fine ever imposed by the department’s Antitrust Division, and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. of Taiwan $65 million. The firms agreed to plead guilty to charges filed in US District Court in San Francisco and cooperate with the ongoing antitrust investigation, the department said, indicating that further charges could be forthcoming.

The official documents revealed that LG Display engaged in price-fixing between 2001 and 2006 involving LCD panels sold worldwide. It said Sharp was involved in price-fixing during the same period for LCDs sold to Dell for its computer monitors and laptops, Motorola for its Razr mobile phones, and Apple for its iPod portable music player. Chunghwa was accused of fixing the prices of LCD panels sold worldwide from 2001 to 2006.
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