Antitrust and Trade Regulation laws aim to promote free competition in the marketplace. Agreements or cooperative efforts by two or more entities that affects or restrains competitors is illegal under these laws. The Sherman Act makes illegal any contract, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce and makes monopolies and attempts, combinations, or conspiracies to monopolize illegal. The Clayton Act regulate price discrimination, tying and exclusive dealing contracts, stock acquisition and interlocking directorates.
Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. The center of the Greater Reading Area, it had a population of 81,207 in the 2000 census; by 2008, it was estimated to have fallen to 80,560, making it the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, and Erie, and the sixth largest municipality after Upper Darby Township.