A beacon illuminating a beaker of bacon!

MAP is not collusion, it is the currently best (and affirmatively deemed legal by courts) way to create a fair playing field for all the resellers of a particular product. I know most people feel MAP is a bad thing because as end users we all pay the same MAP price, just like trying to buy an Apple product - price is same everywhere. With this being said, when a company as large as Amazon or Wal-Mart does not abide by MAP, it is simply a race to the bottom with who has the lowest price. Because these large companies get a huge quantity discount, without MAP they could afford to sell for pennies on the dollar for an extended period of time. This action has the very real potential put all the other resellers out of business. When the other competition is gone, Amazon (et. al.) are free to raise the prices as high as they want as they retain complete market control. The manufacturer of the good is forced to sell to Amazon at whatever price Amazon determines. Amazon is so large that they can make or break a company simply by not choosing to sell a product...and you can bet your ass it is on Amazon's terms because they know the power they hold.

A marketplace without MAP, as you suggest, is simply a setup for monopolistic control by companies who can afford to do it. Look what happened to all the Mom and Pop shops in the US with the introduction of Wal-Mart: gone. Without some kind of level price structure, the reseller with the deepest pockets will prevail.

This is Slashdot, nobody RTFA. You must be new here.

The issue with Amazon is while they offer great service and the lowest prices, they are forcing not only other businesses to go under but also dictating the prices of goods in the market. Many companies have a Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) policy in order to keep an even playing field for their resellers. Amazon is so large, and buys so much, that do not obey to MAP policies - they do what they please. If the manufacturer doesn't like this, they can choose not sell to Amazon and subsequently lose sales in the millions of dollars.

In the wake of low prices and convenience, we are seeing the extinction of a free-enterprise market and the transition of skilled laborers to box-stuffers....all run by the efficiency of a computer system.

Fun fact for ya: Apple also got recently rejected for their patent "Pinch a loaf, then wipe" as it seemed there was prior art in this case.

Yep. Another mundane, boring Slashvertisement. What's next, religious programming like the 700 club? Or perhaps an interview with the intern at your local AT&T substation where he ventures out to the hardware store to purchase zip ties and Slashdot rides along with video camera in tow?
And from ABCsmallTimeGarbageAppMakerCompany, none the less. Slashdotters rarely RTFA...you think most will WTFV? Seriously?

Move along, nothing to see here.

You can always tell a happy motorcycle rider by the number of bugs in his teeth.

"Ahh....a'chilled a'monkey brains!".....

I'll drink to that!

Well usually before tagging, I will arrange all the items on long folding leg tables. I try my best to group them with like categories of items. I pick a day when the weather will cooperate and post some ads online and in local newspapers. Once I am ready to tag, I simply write down the requested price on a self-adhesive tag with a pen, Sharpie or similar instrument. Larger items require larger tags. Once the tagging is done, I sit back and prepare for profit!

It's not like Slashdotters RTFA anyways...so maybe they were hoping nobody would notice.

Profanity, motherfucker! Do. You. Speak. It?