Showing results for: “digital markets act”
The Forgotten Virtues of Doing Nothing
This guest post is by Jonathan M. Barnett, Torrey H. Webb Professor Law, University of Southern California Gould School of Law. It has become virtual received wisdom that antitrust law has been subdued by economic analysis into a state of chronic underenforcement. Following this line of thinking, many commentators applauded the Antitrust Division’s unsuccessful campaign ... The Forgotten Virtues of Doing Nothing
The Antitrust Prohibition of Favoritism, or the Imposition of Corporate Selflessness
It is my endeavor to scrutinize the questionable assessment articulated against default settings in the U.S. Justice Department’s lawsuit against Google. Default, I will argue, is no antitrust fault. Default in the Google case drastically differs from default referred to in the Microsoft case. In Part I, I argue the comparison is odious. Furthermore, in ... The Antitrust Prohibition of Favoritism, or the Imposition of Corporate Selflessness
Why There Needs to Be More, not Less, Consolidation in Video Streaming
Slow and inadequate oversight risks the streaming market going the same route as cable—where consumers have little power, few options, and where consolidation and concentration reign supreme. A number of threats to competition are clear, as discussed in this section, including: (1) market power issues surrounding content and (2) the role of platforms in “gatekeeping” ... Why There Needs to Be More, not Less, Consolidation in Video Streaming
The AT&T and T-Mobile Merger
The big merger news is that AT&T is planning to acquire T-Mobile. From the AT&T press release: AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) and Deutsche Telekom AG (FWB: DTE) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which AT&T will acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom in a cash-and-stock transaction currently valued at approximately ... The AT&T and T-Mobile Merger
Copyright Conundrum
Earlier this year, the US Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari to Costco in the case of OMEGA SA v. Costco Wholesale Corp. (541 F. 3d 982 (2008)). At issue is whether the ‘first sale doctrine’ of US copyright law (17 U.S.C. § 109(a)), which limits the copyright owner’s ability to restrict distribution of ... Copyright Conundrum
Richard Thaler’s Rejoinder to the TOTM Free to Choose Symposium
I have now had a chance to read through the contributions to this event and have a few thoughts to share. I cannot, of course, reply to everything that has been said here, and in any case, most of what I would say already appears in print. Before getting into specifics let me say one ... Richard Thaler’s Rejoinder to the TOTM Free to Choose Symposium
Congress jerks the SEC’s leash
Last week I argued that the SEC’s considering relaxing the rule requiring 1934 act registration of stock classes with more than 499 shareholders was not what it seemed. I noted that while this might look like a move toward liberalization by permitting more Facebook-style markets, it actually furthered a trend toward closing US securities markets ... Congress jerks the SEC’s leash
An Interesting Patent Holdup Decision out of the Central District of CA: Vizio v. Funai
Readers may recall we highlighted the Vizio v. Funai complaint about a year ago, in large part because it involved antitrust and standard setting issues. The case involves allegations that Funai breached a FRAND commitment, and thus, is an important decision in the debate over the appropriate scope of Section 2 in cases involving alleged ... An Interesting Patent Holdup Decision out of the Central District of CA: Vizio v. Funai
The Good, Bad, and the Ugly of the EU’s Proposed Data Protection Regulation
Nearly all economists from across the political spectrum agree: free trade is good. Yet free trade agreements are not always the same thing as free trade. Whether we’re talking about the Trans-Pacific Partnership or the European Union’s Digital Single Market (DSM) initiative, the question is always whether the agreement in question is reducing barriers to ... The Good, Bad, and the Ugly of the EU’s Proposed Data Protection Regulation
Seven Things Netflix’s ‘The Great Hack’ Gets Wrong About the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica Data Scandal
And if David finds out the data beneath his profile, you’ll start to be able to connect the dots in various ways with Facebook and Cambridge Analytica and Trump and Brexit and all these loosely-connected entities. Because you get to see inside the beast, you get to see inside the system. This excerpt from the ... Seven Things Netflix’s ‘The Great Hack’ Gets Wrong About the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica Data Scandal
Islands of Chaos: The Economic Calculation Problem Inherent in Municipal Broadband
Municipal broadband has been heavily promoted by its advocates as a potential source of competition against Internet service providers (“ISPs”) with market power. Jonathan Sallet argued in Broadband for America’s Future: A Vision for the 2020s, for instance, that municipal broadband has a huge role to play in boosting broadband competition, with attendant lower prices, ... Islands of Chaos: The Economic Calculation Problem Inherent in Municipal Broadband
Larry Ribstein on Free to Lose?
Larry E. Ribstein is the Mildred Van Voorhis Jones Chair in Law and the associate dean for Research, University of Illinois College of Law I thought I’d aim my opening post at the question that motivated my interest in this symposium: is behavioral economics leading us to the end of free markets and the takeover ... Larry Ribstein on Free to Lose?
