Marker Völkl and Tecnica Group, respectively the leading and fourth-largest sellers of skis in the U.S., have settled Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that for many years they illegally agreed not to compete for one another's ski endorsers or employees. The FTC charges that beginning in 2004, Marker Völkl and Tecnica agreed not to compete with each other to secure endorsements by professional skiers, in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Typically, ski equipment companies compete to secure the endorsement of prominent skiers. When an agreement expires, the companies may try to persuade the skier to switch from one company to another, for example, by offering more money in exchange for an endorsement. The FTC also states that in 2007, the scope of their non-compete agreement was expanded to cover all of their employees as well. The purpose of these anticompetitive agreements, according to the FTC, was to avoid bidding up the cost of securing endorsements from skiers, as well as the salaries of their employees. The proposed orders settling the FTC's charges bar each firm from engaging in similar anticompetitive conduct in the future.

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