Secret talks? Conspiracy. Between two market leaders. To settle their differences and thereby reduce direct competition. I understand completely why this was kept quiet. I cannot see any firm dates, but it looks like most of these reported discussions were in 2017-2018, 4+ years back, conveniently long enough enjoy SOL protection against antitrust actions. Who really wrote this piece? Who paid for it?
SOL citation: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2011-title15/html...