138
Opinion of the Court
We do not see how the presence of this special motive, however, could make a significant difference. That motive does not turn Materiel Enterprises' actions into a "boycott" within the meaning of this Court's precedents. See supra, at 135-136. Nor, for that matter, do we understand how Discon believes the motive affected Materiel Enterprises' behavior. Why would Discon's demise have made Discon's employees less likely, rather than more likely, to report the overcharge/rebate scheme to telephone regulators? Regardless, a per se rule that would turn upon a showing that a defendant not only knew about but also hoped for a firm's demise would create a legal distinction—between corporate knowledge and corporate motive—that does not necessarily correspond to behavioral differences and which would be difficult to prove, making the resolution of already complex antitrust cases yet more difficult. We cannot find a convincing reason why the presence of this special motive should lead to the application of the per se rule.
Finally, we shall consider an argument that is related tangentially to Discon's per se claims. The complaint alleges that New York Telephone (through Materiel Enterprises) was the largest buyer of removal services in New York State, see Amended Complaint ¶¶ 2, 29, 99, App. 75, 83, 110, and that only AT&T Technologies competed for New York Telephone's business, see ¶¶ 2, 26, 29, id., at 75, 82-83. One might ask whether these accompanying allegations are sufficient to warrant application of a Klor's-type presumption of consequent harm to the competitive process itself.
We believe that these allegations do not do so, for, as we have said, see supra, at 135-136, antitrust law does not permit the application of the per se rule in the boycott context in the absence of a horizontal agreement, though in other contexts, say, vertical price fixing, conduct may fall within the scope of a per se rule not at issue here, see, e. g., Dr. Miles Medical Co., 220 U. S., at 408. The complaint
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