When the license period expires, customers can sign up for maintenance and service contracts at a lower fee.

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But the Spitzer probe found these "kickbacks" prompted Marsh to "steer" contracts to the insurer paying the fattest fee-even when this resulted in a higher price to Marsh's client.

FORBES: Companies, People, Ideas

Around the same time, the European Court asserted that footballers, like other workers, were free to move anywhere at the end of their contracts, without their old employers demanding a transfer fee.

ECONOMIST: Charlemagne