Showing results for: “digital markets act”
James Cooper on a Sensible Limit to the FTC’s Section 5 Authority
In this posting, I sketch out a sensible limitation to the FTC’s Section 5 authority. This domain should be narrow, focusing only on harmful conduct that but for the application of Section 5 would remain un-remedied. As a threshold matter, the FTC explicitly should renounce its reliance on early Section 5 case law like S&H ... James Cooper on a Sensible Limit to the FTC’s Section 5 Authority
Time for Congress to Cancel the FTC’s Section 5 Antitrust Blank Check
A debate is brewing in Congress over whether to allow the Federal Trade Commission to sidestep decades of antitrust case law and economic theory to define, on its own, when competition becomes “unfair.” Unless Congress cancels the FTC’s blank check, uncertainty about the breadth of the agency’s power will chill innovation, especially in the tech ... Time for Congress to Cancel the FTC’s Section 5 Antitrust Blank Check
Subsidies to “Flatten the Curve”
Summary: Trying to quarantine everyone until a vaccine is available doesn’t seem feasible. In addition, restrictions mainly delay when the epidemic explodes, e.g., see previous post on Flattening the Curve. In this paper, we propose subsidies to both individuals and businesses, to better align private incentives with social goals, while leaving it up to individuals and ... Subsidies to “Flatten the Curve”
"Loyal" Directors in Delaware
In November of 2006, the Delaware Supreme Court issued an opinion in Stone v. Ritter dealing with a director’s fiduciary duties in cases where the complaining plaintiff-shareholder is maintaing that her directors did not sufficiently monitor their corporate charge. (I refer to these “oversight” cases loosely as “asleep at the wheel” cases.) There has been ... "Loyal" Directors in Delaware
The folly of the FTC’s Section Five case against Google
In the past weeks, the chatter surrounding a possible FTC antitrust case against Google has risen in volume, thanks largely to the FTC’s hiring of litigator Beth Wilkinson. The question remains, however, what this aggressive move portends and, more importantly, why the FTC is taking it. It is worth noting at the outset that, as ... The folly of the FTC’s Section Five case against Google
Copyright and the Public Interest: The Importance of Ensuring that Righteousness of Purpose Doesn’t Trump Principle
I recently became aware of a decision from the High Court in South Africa that examines an interesting intersection of freedom of expression, copyright and contract. It addresses the issue of how to define the public interest in an environment of relatively unguarded rhetoric about the role of copyright in society that is worth exploring. ... Copyright and the Public Interest: The Importance of Ensuring that Righteousness of Purpose Doesn’t Trump Principle
The DOJ’s Antitrust Case Against Google: A Tough Slog, but Maybe an Intriguing Possibility?
The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) antitrust case against Google, which was filed in October 2020, will be a tough slog.[1] It is an alleged monopolization (Sherman Act, Sec. 2) case; and monopolization cases are always a tough slog. In this brief essay I will lay out some of the issues in the case and raise ... The DOJ’s Antitrust Case Against Google: A Tough Slog, but Maybe an Intriguing Possibility?
State Antitrust Law in Action
A predatory pricing case in California under Section 17043 results in a $21 million fine awarded to one newspaper, the Bay Guardian, in a suit against a competitor, San Francisco Weekly (HT: Reason). The suit alleged that the SF Weekly was selling advertising below cost for the purpose of harming a competitor. A summary of ... State Antitrust Law in Action
My Hip Saga and How the Affordable Care Act Squandered Our Best Opportunity to Lower Health Care Costs
After two years of nagging and increasingly worse hip and leg pain, I learned last August (at age forty) that I have a congenital hip deformity and need to have both hips replaced. In planning for this surgery, I’ve witnessed first-hand a problem that is driving American health care costs through the roof and is exacerbated by ... My Hip Saga and How the Affordable Care Act Squandered Our Best Opportunity to Lower Health Care Costs
The AI Act and Regulatory Overaggregation
It appears that the emergence of ChatGPT and other artificial-intelligence systems has complicated the European Union’s efforts to implement its AI Act, mostly by challenging its underlying assumptions. The proposed regulation seeks to govern a diverse and rapidly growing AI landscape. In reality, however, there is no single thing that can be called “AI.” Instead, the category comprises ... The AI Act and Regulatory Overaggregation
Is The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act of 2010 Constitutional?
C. Boyden Gray and John Shu offer a very helpful discussion on this issue in an article in Engage. Here is the abstract: President Obama signed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (“Dodd-Frank” or “the Act”) into law on July 21, 2010. The massive and complex Act is reportedly the ... Is The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer Protection Act of 2010 Constitutional?
The FCC faces a fork in the road: Pretend scarcity doesn’t exist or actually help reduce it
At today’s Open Commission Meeting, the FCC is set to consider two apparently forthcoming Notices of Proposed Rulemaking that will shape the mobile broadband sector for years to come. It’s not hyperbole to say that the FCC’s approach to the two issues at hand — the design of spectrum auctions and the definition of the FCC’s ... The FCC faces a fork in the road: Pretend scarcity doesn’t exist or actually help reduce it
