Showing results for: “Section 5, Collateral Consequences, and Counting Unicorns”
EU’s Cybersecurity Draft Shifts Toward Hard Protectionism
A year ago, we cautioned that the EU Cybersecurity Certification Scheme for Cloud Services (EUCS) threatened to embed ill-conceived economic protectionism into the EU’s cybersecurity rules. And, indeed, the European Commission, which has made clear its commitment to pursue “digital sovereignty” for the European Union, can claim some preliminary successes on that front. A recent ... EU’s Cybersecurity Draft Shifts Toward Hard Protectionism
Gatekeeping, the DMA, and the Future of Competition Regulation
The European Commission late last month published the full list of its “gatekeeper” designations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft—the six designated gatekeepers—now have six months to comply with the DMA’s list of obligations and restrictions with respect to their core platform services (CPS), or they stand to ... Gatekeeping, the DMA, and the Future of Competition Regulation
Latin America Should Follow Its Own Path on Digital-Markets Competition
In order to promote competition in digital markets,[1] Latin American countries should not copy and paste “solutions” from other jurisdictions, but rather design their own set of policies. In short, Latin American countries—like my own, Peru—should not “put the cart before the horse” and regulate markets that are not yet mature. Digital or “tech” markets ... Latin America Should Follow Its Own Path on Digital-Markets Competition
Net Neutrality and Broken Records
I don’t mean to sound like a broken record, but why is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) playing a broken record? I’ve been writing a fair bit about Federal Trade Commission (FTC) rulemaking initiatives. On the theory that you deserve a nominal break from all of that, this post is mostly about the FCC. On ... Net Neutrality and Broken Records
The Biden Executive Order on AI: A Recipe for Anticompetitive Overregulation
The Biden administration’s Oct. 30 “Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence” proposes to “govern… the development and use of AI safely and responsibly” by “advancing a coordinated, Federal Government-wide approach to doing so.” (Emphasis added.) This “all-of-government approach,” which echoes the all-of-government approach of the 2021 “Executive ... The Biden Executive Order on AI: A Recipe for Anticompetitive Overregulation
When Progress Is Regressive: The Ordo-Brandeisian Devolution
It is no coincidence that ordoliberalism—the European (originally German) alternative to classical liberalism that emphasized the importance of the “social market” economy—and the New Brandeis or “neo-Brandeisian” movement, which harkens back to the Progressive Era thought of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, both are enjoying comebacks simultaneously. The effects of these ideological ... When Progress Is Regressive: The Ordo-Brandeisian Devolution
Biden’s AI Executive Order Sees Dangers Around Every Virtual Corner
Here in New Jersey, where I live, the day before Halloween is commonly celebrated as “Mischief Night,” an evening of adolescent revelry and light vandalism that typically includes hurling copious quantities of eggs and toilet paper. It is perhaps fitting, therefore, that President Joe Biden chose Oct. 30 to sign a sweeping executive order (EO) ... Biden’s AI Executive Order Sees Dangers Around Every Virtual Corner
Market Power as a Limiting Principle in Merger Enforcement
One of the most important changes in the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Justice Department’s (DOJ) draft merger guidelines is the abandonment of market power as the central element of merger enforcement. The “unifying theme” of the 2010 horizontal merger guidelines was that “mergers should not be permitted to create, enhance, or entrench market ... Market Power as a Limiting Principle in Merger Enforcement
Everyone Discriminates Under the FCC’s Proposed New Rules
The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) proposed digital-discrimination rules hit the streets earlier this month and, as we say at Hootenanny Central, they’re a real humdinger. It looks like the National Telecommunications and Information Agency (NTIA) got most of their wishlist incorporated into the proposed rules. We’ve got disparate impact and a wide-open door for future ... Everyone Discriminates Under the FCC’s Proposed New Rules
NTIA Tries to Call the Tune on Digital Discrimination
We’ve all been there. You’re enjoying a hootenanny, and someone tries to change the tune. Kind of like yelling “Free Bird” at a Taylor Swift concert or asking a wedding DJ to play the chicken dance. Well, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has jumped into the digital-discrimination hootenanny and put in some requests. ... NTIA Tries to Call the Tune on Digital Discrimination
I, For One, Welcome Our New FTC Overlords
In this post—the last planned post for this symposium on The FTC’s New Normal (though we will continue to accept unsolicited submissions of responses)—I will offer some summary of the ideas that have been shared here over the past month, before turning to some of my own thoughts. To keep your attention rapt, I will ... I, For One, Welcome Our New FTC Overlords
The Changing Role of Structural Presumption at the Federal Trade Commission
The draft merger guidelines that were released July 19 by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) indicate a shift by the agencies toward an overreliance on structural market factors to trigger merger scrutiny. For example, Draft Guideline 1—titled “Mergers Should Not Significantly Increase Concentration in Highly Concentrated Markets”—would lower the bar ... The Changing Role of Structural Presumption at the Federal Trade Commission
