With the Hitachi plea, the US government will have made more than $600m in criminal fines stemming from LCD price-fixing. "This case should send a strong message to multinational companies operating in the United States that when it comes to enforcing the US antitrust laws we mean business," acting assistant attorney general Scott Hammond said in a statement. The court papers charge that Hitachi participated in meetings and communications in Japan, Korea and the US to discuss the prices of screens sold to Dell, at which they agreed to set certain prices. Regulators in Asia and the European Union also have opened investigations into pricing for LCDs, a worldwide market worth roughly $70bn. Last year, LG Display, a South Korean company, and its LG Display America unit agreed to pay a $400m fine for its part in fixing prices of certain LCD panels from 2001 to 2006. Chunghwa, a Taiwanese company, agreed to pay $65m for its role in the scheme.