No they don't, they deny the charges. Politicians seem to have started this incorrect use of the word refute, probably because they thought it sounded stronger than deny or they thought it not in sufficiently widespread use for the electorate to know the difference. More likely both. It's bad enough that they never get challenged by the news media when they make such statements without the aforementioned organisations contributing to the promotion of such objectionable Newspeak.

</rant>

...I can think of one group the EU should be looking at before looking into Philips' supposed cartel.

A wholely monopolistic agreement between a certain fruity trendy computer manufacturer, and specific mobile phone network companies worldwide. A certain product split up between said network companies by territory making competition nearly non-existent.

Nudge Nudge...

Say no more...

The only reason other mob operators aren't crying bloody mary is because said fruity computer firm allows that company to sell said product in a different territory. Meanwhile the customer suffers at the hands of the crap service from said mobile operator and serious price fixing.

1. Philips had a share in LG

2. LG part of Cratel fined $585m for price-fixing conspiracy http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2008/11/12/lcd_price_fixing_guilty_pleas/

Yeah, right, now, how do I claim a refund on my lappy

Paris, she said the video was put on the internet without her permission

Main Entry: re·fute

Pronunciation: \ri-ˈfyüt\

Function: transitive verb

1 : to prove wrong by argument or evidence : show to be false or erroneous

2 : to deny the truth or accuracy of <refuted the allegations>

Dear Captain Hogwash,

I refute your rant. Please see, especially, definition 2 posted above (however, definition 1 also applies to my example). Thanks.

OK, I took the bait. Your definition appears to be from Wordnet and the first in the list if you use the Google define keyword. Try this from the University of Aberdeen

REFUTE To refute a proposition or theory is to *establish* or *prove* that it is false. Lately many people have taken to using ‘refute’ as a synonym for ‘deny’, but avoid this usage in philosophy. To deny that God exists is not, in philosophical usage, to refute (or disprove) the proposition that God exists.

Their emphasis on 'establish' and 'prove'.

Merriam-Webster is America's foremost publisher of language-related reference works (taken from their website).

So if it's American English it is distinctly different to English English.

> Actually, I got my definition from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/refute

El Reg is a UK publication (that's why it's a .co.uk site) so we expect El Reg's hacks to write in Left-Pondian English, and not adopt Right-Pondian American malapropisms like "refute" for "deny" and other similar rubbish that can be found in criminally illiterate "English" dictionaries like Merrian's Webster and in even less literate speeches by a former President.

We don't want to see el Reg supporting the Yanks and their co-nationals in their efforts to render our language not useful for communication!