The European Commission’s ‘Six-Seven’ Theory of Interoperability
If you have been near anyone under the age of 15 in the past year, you may have heard the phrase “six seven” shouted with great conviction and no discernible content. It usually comes with a hand gesture. It means, as best anyone can tell, absolutely nothing. That is the joke: a number pair masquerading ... The European Commission’s ‘Six-Seven’ Theory of Interoperability
Nonstop to Nowhere: Spirit, JetBlue, and the Limits of Merger Doctrine
Spirit Airlines built its brand on the promise that flying could be miserable, but cheap. Its reported shutdown and liquidation now poses a less cheerful question for antitrust: What if the competitor regulators fought to preserve was already running out of runway? That question has triggered the sort of debate that is easy to politicize ... Nonstop to Nowhere: Spirit, JetBlue, and the Limits of Merger Doctrine
Reverse Patent Pools and Other TTBER Tall Tales
In standard-essential patent (SEP) licensing, every procedural tweak is also a skirmish over bargaining power. That is what makes licensing negotiation groups (LNGs) more than an obscure acronym in the European Commission’s 2026 Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER) and accompanying Guidelines (TTGs). LNGs would allow technology implementers to bargain collectively with rights holders. Depending ... Reverse Patent Pools and Other TTBER Tall Tales
Brussels’ AI Squeeze: Regulating What It Leaves Standing
Brussels has boxed itself into a familiar corner: first limit how a platform can make money, then regulate what is left. The European Commission’s case against Meta over WhatsApp is a near-perfect illustration. On April 15, the European Commission sent Meta a Supplementary Statement of Objections. It signaled its intent to order the company to ... Brussels’ AI Squeeze: Regulating What It Leaves Standing
Turning Down the Thinking: A Law & Economics Trilogue on AI Throttling
Three section leads at the International Center for Law & Economics (ICLE) read the same viral GitHub post and reached three different conclusions. Call it a trilogue—three views, one problem, and a technology that refuses to sit still. The GitHub issue filed last week against Anthropic’s Claude Code product carried a blunt title: “Claude Code ... Turning Down the Thinking: A Law & Economics Trilogue on AI Throttling
A Fistful of Discretion: The UK’s DMCC After Two Years
When Sergio Leone shot “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” in 1966, he refused to hand the audience a clean moral. The “Good” wasn’t really good. The “Bad” looked almost restrained next to the Civil War’s industrial-scale carnage. And the “Ugly” drew your sympathy—even as you questioned why. Two years into the Competition and ... A Fistful of Discretion: The UK’s DMCC After Two Years
Acquihires and Antitrust: When Buying the Team Isn’t Buying the Company
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has trained its sights on one of Silicon Valley’s most familiar deal structures: the “acquihire.” In a Bloomberg podcast interview, FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson said the agency plans to scrutinize how acquihires are structured—looking for features that could bring them within merger law and trigger Hart-Scott-Rodino Act (HSR) reporting thresholds. ... Acquihires and Antitrust: When Buying the Team Isn’t Buying the Company
Crisis Opportunism: Germany’s Turn to Antitrust Without Limits
Geopolitical shocks rarely just move markets. They move policy—and not always in good ways. Fuel prices are climbing sharply across Europe following military escalation in the Middle East and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The political demand for “something to be done” can be nearly irresistible. In Germany, several major political groups have ... Crisis Opportunism: Germany’s Turn to Antitrust Without Limits
From Cure to Care: The DMA’s Chronic Regulation Problem
The neo-Brandeisian movement—emphasizing market structure and fairness over consumer welfare—has struggled to gain traction in several jurisdictions. In Europe, by contrast, lawmakers have codified its core premises. The Digital Markets Act (DMA) operationalizes this approach by prioritizing ex ante structural interventions intended to reshape rivalry in digital markets. The regime’s most significant feature lies not ... From Cure to Care: The DMA’s Chronic Regulation Problem
Germany’s War on the Bargain
Germany’s competition watchdog has turned a familiar retail feature into an antitrust offense. In a recent decision, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) effectively faulted Amazon for showing shoppers only “price-competitive” offers on its German site. At first glance, the case looks narrow—a dispute over the mechanics of the “Buy Box,” reminiscent of European actions ... Germany’s War on the Bargain
Europe Can’t Decouple Its Way to Power
Europe is experiencing a bout of geopolitical vertigo. With Donald Trump having once again floated the purchase of Greenland and threatened tariffs against his European allies, the transatlantic relationship looks more fragile than at any point in recent memory. NATO may yet survive the strain, but hoping for a return to predictability is no longer ... Europe Can’t Decouple Its Way to Power
Are Trump’s Tariffs A Blessing in Disguise for Europe’s Tech Sector?
Less than a month has passed since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, but it is already clear that tariffs will be central to his administration’s economic policy and geopolitical strategy. Following an initial round of tariff threats against Mexico and Canada, and hiked tariffs on China, Trump is setting his sights on new targets—the European Union ... Are Trump’s Tariffs A Blessing in Disguise for Europe’s Tech Sector?
