Showing results for: “digital markets act”
Justice for a backdater
Two days ago I discussed the sentencing of KB Home’s Bruce Karatz, where the court was weighing the Probation Office’s recommendation of home detention against the U.S. Attorney’s 6.5 year jail sentence recommendation. I noted the argument that was being made that “swindlers shouldn’t be treated better than dope dealers,” and responded “Injustice to drug dealers doesn’t justify ... Justice for a backdater
CPI Symposium featuring Ginsburg and Wright on Antitrust Sanctions
Competition Policy International’s newest issue has been released. The issue is focused on cartel sanctions and features a colloquium on a piece co-authored by Judge Douglas Ginsburg and me on Antitrust Sanctions, with comments from a fantastic lineup of antitrust economists and lawyers: Joseph Harrington (Johns Hopkins), Pieter Kalbfleisch (Netherlands Competition Authority), Mariana Tavares de ... CPI Symposium featuring Ginsburg and Wright on Antitrust Sanctions
Jail time for backdaters
I’ve blogged fairly extensively about backdating, including serious questions about whether and when it was wrong at all, and even more serious questions about whether it should be criminalized. Among the specific issues are whether any misrepresentations were material to investors. And then there’s the epidemic of prosecutorial misconduct that has occurred in these cases. ... Jail time for backdaters
Creditor derivative suits in Delaware LLCs
The ever-helpful Francis Pileggi thoroughly discusses an interesting and important recent Delaware opinion by VC Laster, CML V, LLC v. Bax, C.A. No. 5373-VCL (Del.Ch. Nov. 3, 2010) which holds a creditor lacks standing under the Delaware LLC act to sue an insolvent LLC derivatively. The following builds on Mr. Pileggi’s excellent analysis. The court interpreted ... Creditor derivative suits in Delaware LLCs
Business Law and the Austrian Theory of the Firm
My Missouri colleague, Peter Klein, of Organizations and Markets fame (and, like Larry, a proud non-voter), has been asked to contribute a book chapter on the Austrian theory of the firm and the law. Peter, who has written extensively on the Austrian theory of the firm and maintains an online bibliography on the subject, is ... Business Law and the Austrian Theory of the Firm
Some Economics of Contractual Restrictions on Political Contributions by Cable Pundits
Jonathan Adler and Orin Kerr chime in over at VC to make the point that MSNBC’s rules against contributions from television personalities is pointless, or perhaps counterproductive. Here’s Adler: I agree with Orin that strict application of rules against political activity by journalists to opinionated commentators and hosts is silly. No one believes these figures ... Some Economics of Contractual Restrictions on Political Contributions by Cable Pundits
Foreclosure lawyers as mortgagees
The NYT reports on foreclosure lawyers who are getting paid contingency fees for mortgage savings, and are themselves getting mortgages from their clients to secure their fees: The Ticktin mortgages resemble the loans that the clients originally got from Countrywide, GMAC and other lenders. Each will be a contractual obligation with the law firm, labeled ... Foreclosure lawyers as mortgagees
Following the sun, or not
From Nick Rowe (HT MR) (see also): [L]et T be the time everybody else chooses, and let S be the time the sun chooses. So my reaction function is t = R(T,S). Assume that dR/dT>0, dR/dS>0, and dR/dT+dR/dS=1. What this means is that if everybody else gets up one hour later, I will get up (say) ... Following the sun, or not
FTC Settlement Finalized
The FTC settlement with Intel has been finalized with one change the Commission’s press release describes as follows: After considering public comments, the FTC modified the proposed order to allow Intel to manufacture and sell a chip that it had in development before the proposed order was negotiated, but that would violate that order because ... FTC Settlement Finalized
Patent Thickets: Lessons from the Sewing Machine War
My colleague Adam Mossoff’s wonderful paper, A Stitch in Time: The Rise and Fall of the Sewing Machine Patent Thicket, was featured in a WSJ article focused on drawing implications for the smartphone market by studying our experience with the sewing machine patent pool. Professor Mossoff is optimistic about the opportunities for players in the ... Patent Thickets: Lessons from the Sewing Machine War
When Google’s Competitors Attack …
We’ve discussed the all too common tactic in antitrust of rival’s complaining to government agencies to get them to bring antitrust complaints. There is nothing particularly special about this tactic. As I’ve pointed out in the context of allegations by Microsoft and Microsoft-supported rivals of Google, conventional economic reasoning suggests that, without more, complaints from ... When Google’s Competitors Attack …
A new argument against federal proxy access
Dodd-Frank included new federal rules regarding proxy access, which have significant problems. Now a new paper by Becker, Bergstresser and Subramanian provides an additional argument against these rules, Does Shareholder Proxy Access Improve Firm Value? Evidence from the Business Roundtable Challenge. Here’s the abstract: We measure the value of shareholder proxy access by using a ... A new argument against federal proxy access
