The Price You Pay

CD Price Fixing Scam Settled

NEW YORK (AP) -- The five top U.S. distributors of compact discs and three large music retailers have agreed to pay $143 million in cash and CDs to settle charges they cheated consumers by fixing prices, authorities announced Monday....

...Consumers who bought CDs between 1995 and 2000 can file claims for part of the money, prosecutors said. Announcements will be made later to tell consumers how to participate in the payout.
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So what does this mean here in Canada? Does the retail scene here operate independently enough that this may not have happened here? Are the Canadian branches of the big labels beyond these kind of price-fixing tactics? I have my doubts on both counts, but I really don't know enough about how retail operates. Is the evidence... well, evident in the sticker prices of CDs?

More importantly, is anyone investigating whether Canadian labels and retailers may have been similarly in cahoots here? The same wire story was carried on the Canoe site, with no additional info about the possible impact on Canadian consumers. Hmmm.