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Showing results for:  “digital markets act”

My New Paper on Defining Exclusionary Conduct

In our recent blog symposium on Section 5 of the FTC Act, Latham & Watkins partner Tad Lipsky exposed one of antitrust’s dark little secrets: Nobody really knows what Sherman Act Section 2 forbids.  The provision bans monopolization, attempted monopolization, and conspiracies to monopolize, and courts have articulated formal elements for each claim.  But the ... My New Paper on Defining Exclusionary Conduct

Congress Should Not Grant the FTC Untrammeled Authority to Obtain Monetary Relief

The U.S. House this week passed H.R. 2668, the Consumer Protection and Recovery Act (CPRA), which authorizes the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to seek monetary relief in federal courts for injunctions brought under Section 13(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Potential relief under the CPRA is comprehensive. It includes “restitution for losses, rescission or ... Congress Should Not Grant the FTC Untrammeled Authority to Obtain Monetary Relief

Why Wasn't Belichick Suspended?

An assistant coach takes a substance banned by the NFL to treat diabetes. He is fined one third of his salary and suspended for 5 games. An NFL head coach violates an NFL rule concerning videotaping the opposition during a game from the sideline for fear that such conduct might impact the outcome of the ... Why Wasn't Belichick Suspended?

A Coasean Analysis of Offensive Speech

Words can wound. They can humiliate, anger, insult. University students—or, at least, a vociferous minority of them—are keen to prevent this injury by suppressing offensive speech. To ensure campuses are safe places, they militate for the cancellation of talks by speakers with opinions they find offensive, often successfully. And they campaign to get offensive professors ... A Coasean Analysis of Offensive Speech

Second Circuit’s BMI Decision Commendably Overturns the Justice Department’s Interference with Efficient Contracting in Performance Rights Licensing

Introduction and Summary On December 19, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit presented Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) with an early Christmas present.  Specifically, the Second Circuit commendably affirmed the District Court for the Southern District of New York’s September 2016 ruling rejecting the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) August 2016 reinterpretation ... Second Circuit’s BMI Decision Commendably Overturns the Justice Department’s Interference with Efficient Contracting in Performance Rights Licensing

FTC UMC Roundup – A Quantum of Wonder Edition

Early August is an unpredictable time in the policy world. With Congress about to go on recess, one never knows if there will be a mad rush to get something done, or what that something may be. And it is, for many, a month of vacations and light schedules. Short staffing may delay work or ... FTC UMC Roundup – A Quantum of Wonder Edition

Wilkes v. Springside and the Rise of the Uncorporation

As I noted last week I participated with several corporate law luminaries in a conference at Western New England College in Springfield, Massachusetts on the famous case of Wilkes v. Springside Nursing Home, 370 Mass. 842, 353 N.E.2d 657 (1976). Springfield is near Pittsfield, where Springside was located and this case originated. As most law students ... Wilkes v. Springside and the Rise of the Uncorporation

The FTC’s in-app purchasing complaint against Amazon reflects its flawed, per se approach to unfairness

Today the FTC filed its complaint in federal district court in Washington against Amazon, alleging that the company’s in-app purchasing system permits children to make in-app purchases without parental “informed consent” constituting an “unfair practice” under Section 5 of the FTC Act. As I noted in my previous post on the case, in bringing this ... The FTC’s in-app purchasing complaint against Amazon reflects its flawed, per se approach to unfairness

Intellectual Property, Standard Setting, and the Limits of Antitrust

[Cross-posted at TalkStandards.com, a blog devoted on standards and related issues] One of the most significant challenges facing competition policy today is defining the appropriate role of antitrust law within the context of intellectual property right licensing by standard-setting organizations (“SSOs”).  Many commentators believe it is necessary to apply the full force of the antitrust ... Intellectual Property, Standard Setting, and the Limits of Antitrust

"There is Little Evidence that Economic Analysis of Law Has Changed [Antitrust] in Any Noticeable Way"

Huh? This statement appears in this article by Professor Anthony D’Amato (Northwestern) on the failure of interdisciplinary scholarship in the legal academy. HT: Brian Leiter. Quite frankly, I was very surprised to see a claim like this in a paper written after 1970 or so. Even in corners of the academy hostile to economic analysis, ... "There is Little Evidence that Economic Analysis of Law Has Changed [Antitrust] in Any Noticeable Way"

Does NetChoice v Bonta Mean Curtains for KOSA?

To butcher a Winston Churchill quote, it’s not yet clear if this is the beginning of the end, or just the end of the beginning, for children’s online-safety bills.  Such legislation has been all the rage in recent years, earning bipartisan support at both the federal and state level. A version of the Kids Online ... Does NetChoice v Bonta Mean Curtains for KOSA?

Section 230 principles for lawmakers and a note of caution as Trump convenes his “social media summit”

Neither side in the debate over Section 230 is blameless for the current state of affairs. Reform/repeal proponents have tended to offer ill-considered, irrelevant, or often simply incorrect justifications for amending or tossing Section 230. Meanwhile, many supporters of the law in its current form are reflexively resistant to any change and too quick to dismiss the more reasonable concerns that have been voiced. Most of all, the urge to politicize this issue — on all sides — stands squarely in the way of any sensible discussion and thus of any sensible reform.