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Showing results for:  “digital markets act”

Reining in Digital Competition to No Good End: Will AICOA and OAMA Rise from the Grave?

The 117th Congress closed out without a floor vote on either of the major pieces of antitrust legislation introduced in both chambers: the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA) and the Open Apps Market Act (OAMA). But it was evident at yesterday’s hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee that at least some ... Reining in Digital Competition to No Good End: Will AICOA and OAMA Rise from the Grave?

The Earn IT Act and the Institutional Limits of Congress

As the initial shock of the COVID quarantine wanes, the Techlash waxes again bringing with it a raft of renewed legislative proposals to take on Big Tech. Prominent among these is the EARN IT Act (the Act), a bipartisan proposal to create a new national commission responsible for proposing best practices designed to mitigate the ... The Earn IT Act and the Institutional Limits of Congress

The SHIELD Act: When Bad Economic Studies Make Bad Laws

Earlier this month, Representatives Peter DeFazio and Jason Chaffetz picked up the gauntlet from President Obama’s comments on February 14 at a Google-sponsored Internet Q&A on Google+ that “our efforts at patent reform only went about halfway to where we need to go” and that he would like “to see if we can build some ... The SHIELD Act: When Bad Economic Studies Make Bad Laws

The View from Australia: A TOTM Q&A with Allan Fels

Allan, you have a remarkably high public profile in Australia and are known to most of the Australian population as ex-ACCC chair. Could you please give us a bit on your background and how you got into competition law?  I did degrees in law and economics at the University of Western Australia and a PhD ... The View from Australia: A TOTM Q&A with Allan Fels

DMA: Setting the Goalposts

In a little less than a month, the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) will start to bite, but how will it taste? By March 7, companies that were designated as “gatekeepers” in September 2023 will be required to meet the obligations of Articles 5, 6, and 7 of the DMA Regulation. With the exception ... DMA: Setting the Goalposts

The Amazon-Whole Foods merger: Natural and organic competition in the evolving grocery industry

What actually happened in the year following the merger is nearly the opposite: Competition among grocery stores has been more fierce than ever. “Offline” retailers are expanding — and innovating — to meet Amazon’s challenge, and many of them are booming. Disruption is never neat and tidy, but, in addition to saving Whole Foods from potential oblivion, the merger seems to have lit a fire under the rest of the industry. This result should not be surprising to anyone who understands the nature of the competitive process. But it does highlight an important lesson: competition often comes from unexpected quarters and evolves in unpredictable ways, emerging precisely out of the kinds of adversity opponents of the merger bemoaned.

Google Previews the Coming Tussle Between GDPR and DMA Article 6(11)

Among the less-discussed requirements of the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) is the data-sharing obligation created by Article 6(11). This provision requires firms designated under the law as “gatekeepers” to share “ranking, query, click and view data” with third-party online search engines, while ensuring that any personal data is anonymized. Given how restrictively the ... Google Previews the Coming Tussle Between GDPR and DMA Article 6(11)

Some Much-Needed Antitrust Skepticism on Senate Letter Urging FTC Google Investigation

Back in September, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee held a hearing on “The Power of Google: Serving Consumers or Threatening Competition?” Given the harsh questioning from the Subcommittee’s Chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Ranking Member Mike Lee (R-UT), no one should have been surprised by the letter they sent yesterday to the Federal Trade ... Some Much-Needed Antitrust Skepticism on Senate Letter Urging FTC Google Investigation

Symposium Wrap Up: The 2020 Draft Joint Vertical Merger Guidelines: What’s in, what’s out — and do we need them anyway?

Last Thursday and Friday, Truth on the Market hosted a symposium analyzing the Draft Vertical Merger Guidelines from the FTC and DOJ. The relatively short draft guidelines provided ample opportunity for discussion, as evidenced by the stellar roster of authors thoughtfully weighing in on the topic.  We want to thank all of the participants for their ... Symposium Wrap Up: The 2020 Draft Joint Vertical Merger Guidelines: What’s in, what’s out — and do we need them anyway?

Geoffrey Manne on Interesting doesn’t necessarily mean policy relevant

Geoffrey A. Manne is Executive Director of the International Center for Law & Economics and Lecturer in Law at Lewis & Clark Law School The problem with behavioral law and economics (and its behavioral economics cousin) is not that it has nothing interesting to say, but rather that the interesting things it has to say ... Geoffrey Manne on Interesting doesn’t necessarily mean policy relevant

The Ninth Circuit’s Welcome Recognition of FTC Authority to Address Welfare-Inimical Broadband Abuses

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) well-recognized expertise in assessing unfair or deceptive acts or practices can play a vital role in policing abusive broadband practices.  Unfortunately, however, because Section 5(a)(2) of the FTC Act exempts common carriers from the FTC’s jurisdiction, serious questions have been raised about the FTC’s authority to deal with unfair ... The Ninth Circuit’s Welcome Recognition of FTC Authority to Address Welfare-Inimical Broadband Abuses

Who CAREs About Beer and Wine Consumers?

The Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness Act — yes, the “CARE Act” — or HR 5034, is a piece of legislation aimed at supporting “State-based alcohol regulation.”  Recall the Supreme Court’s decision in Granholm v. Heald, which held that states could either allow in-state and out-of-state retailers to directly ship wine to consumers or could prohibit ... Who CAREs About Beer and Wine Consumers?