The German Act against Restrains of Competition (ARC) of 1957 came into force on 1 January 1958, which is the most important legislation about the regulation of market in Germany. Since the ARC came into force it has undergone six amendments, the most recent being the 6th Act to Amend the Act against Restrains of Competition of 26 August 1998. The 6th ACT to AMEND the Arc ahs revised the order of many Section. The prohibition of cartels in section 1 is restricted by numero, for example by the "other cartels" in Section 7. The ARC prohibits the abuse of a dominant position, for emample the refusal to allow another undertaking access to "essential facilities" in Section 19 (4)4. The concept of abuse involves abuse in the form of hindrance. The 6th Act to Amend the ARC illustrated the concept of abuse with specific examples under Section 19(4)1. The application for exceptions to the prohibitions of cartels for certain sectors of the economy (agriculture, the credit, insurance industry, copyright collecting societies and sports) is restricted. Concentration of enterprises must be notified to the cartel authority before they are put into effect (if the lat business year the participation enterprises had combined turnovers of more than DM 1,000 million). The most recent amendment introduced a system of legal protection in the award of public contracts.