TechFreedom Search Engine Regulation Event today
Today at 12:30 at the Capitol Visitor Center, TechFreedom is hosting a discussion on the regulation of search engines: “Search Engine Regulation: A Solution in Search of a Problem?” The basics: Allegations of “search bias” have led to increased scrutiny of Google, including active investigations in the European Union and Texas, a possible FTC investigation, ... TechFreedom Search Engine Regulation Event today
Advance praise for Manne & Wright book on regulating innovation
Our book, Competition Policy and Patent Law Under Uncertainty: Regulating Innovation will be published by Cambridge University Press in July. The book’s page on the CUP website is here. I just looked at the site to check on the publication date and I was delighted to see the advance reviews of the book. They are ... Advance praise for Manne & Wright book on regulating innovation
Manne and Wright on Search Neutrality
Josh and I have just completed a white paper on search neutrality/search bias and the regulation of search engines. The paper is this year’s first in the ICLE Antitrust & Consumer Protection White Paper Series: If Search Neutrality Is the Answer, What’s the Question? Geoffrey A. Manne (Lewis & Clark Law School and ICLE) and ... Manne and Wright on Search Neutrality
DOJ clears Google-ITA
The press release is here. Notably, the settlement obligates Google to continue product development and to license ITA software on commercially-reasonable terms, seemingly for 5 years. Frankly, I can’t imagine Google wouldn’t have done this anyway, so the settlement is not likely much of a binding constraint. Also notable is what the settlement doesn’t seem to ... DOJ clears Google-ITA
Type I errors in action, Google edition
Does anyone really still believe that the threat of antitrust enforcement doesn’t lead to undesirable caution on the part of potential defendants? Whatever you may think of the merits of the Google/ITA merger (and obviously I suspect the merits cut in favor of the merger), there can be no doubt that restraining Google’s (and other ... Type I errors in action, Google edition
What search bias would really look like
A friend sent me a link to this Simon Rich “Shouts and Murmurs” from the New Yorker last year. Somehow I missed it at the time. It’s pretty funny. A taste: My favorite Google feature is Google Dictionary. Whenever I need a word defined, I just type it into the search box and the meaning ... What search bias would really look like
Net neutrality and Trinko
Commentators who see Trinko as an impediment to the claim that antitrust law can take care of harmful platform access problems (and thus that prospective rate regulation (i.e., net neutrality) is not necessary), commit an important error in making their claim–and it is a similar error committed by those who advocate for search neutrality regulation, as ... Net neutrality and Trinko
Microsoft comes full circle
I am disappointed but not surprised to see that my former employer filed an official antitrust complaint against Google in the EU. The blog post by Microsoft’s GC, Brad Smith, summarizing its complaint is here. Most obviously, there is a tragic irony to the most antitrust-beleaguered company ever filing an antitrust complaint against its successful competitor. ... Microsoft comes full circle
Manne and Downes on Ideas in Action
(Apologies for the technical difficulties. The video is here in case you can’t see it in the post below):
Watch me discuss the future of the Internet and its regulation on Ideas in Action
Larry Downes (who, like me, is a senior fellow at TechFreedom and a contributor to the excellent book, The Next Digital Decade: Essays on the Future of the Internet) and I taped an episode of Jim Glassman’s talking head show, Ideas in Action, a couple months ago, and it is airing this week on PBS ... Watch me discuss the future of the Internet and its regulation on Ideas in Action
An update on the evolving e-book market: Kindle edition (pun intended)
[UPDATE: Josh links to a WSJ article telling us that EU antitrust enforcers raided several (unnamed) e-book publishers as part of an apparent antitrust investigation into the agency model and whether it is “improperly restrictive.” Whatever that means. Key grafs: At issue for antitrust regulators is whether agency models are improperly restrictive. Europe, in particular, ... An update on the evolving e-book market: Kindle edition (pun intended)
Carl Shapiro to CEA
The WSJ reports that Carl Shapiro, deputy assistant attorney general for economics in the DOJ’s antitrust division, has been nominated by President Obama to his Council of Economic Advisers. Also worth noting is that Phil Weiser, also a former deputy assistant attorney general in the antitrust division, is now senior advisor for technology and innovation ... Carl Shapiro to CEA
