1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Competitive Prices Act . 2. Purpose The purpose of this Act is to clarify and amend the law with respect to— (1) the illegality of consciously parallel pricing coordination under sections 1 and 3(a) of the Sherman Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1 , 3(a)); and (2) the concerted-action requirement for claimed violations of section 1 or 3(a) of the Sherman Act. 3. Findings (a) Consciously parallel pricing coordination (1) The American economy is built on the foundations of open markets and fair competition. These core principles of economic freedom are what stimulate innovation, improve the quality of products and services, and ensure that prices are competitive. (2) The antitrust laws are designed to ensure American consumers and businesses are afforded the benefits of competition throughout the economy. The supreme evil of antitrust law is, accordingly, collusion among market rivals. Such collusion undermines competitive markets, stifles innovation, and results in degraded quality and prices that are dictated by competitors’ agreement rather than competitors’ rivalry. (3) Sections 1 and 3(a) of the Sherman Act ( 15 U.S.C. 1 , 3(a)) categorically prohibit—as the most pernicious types of contracts, combinations in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracies, in restraint of trade or commerce—naked agreements among actual or potential competitors to fix prices, rig bids, or allocate markets. An agreement to fix the quantity of products or services bought or sold is a form of agreement to fix prices. These agreements are per se unlawful. (4) Courts have been unduly hostile to claims of price fixing that are based on tacit agreement among competitors. They have, at times, declined to recognize tacit agreement as a contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy