Showing results for: “digital markets act”
Why a Common Law Approach to Defining “Unfair Methods of Competition” Won’t Work
Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act proclaims that “[u]nfair methods of competition . . . are hereby declared unlawful.” The FTC has exclusive authority to enforce that provision and uses it to prosecute Sherman Act violations. The Commission also uses the provision to prosecute conduct that doesn’t violate the Sherman Act but is, ... Why a Common Law Approach to Defining “Unfair Methods of Competition” Won’t Work
Peter Thiel on the Virtues of Monopoly
PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel has a terrific essay in the Review section of today’s Wall Street Journal. The essay, Competition Is for Losers, is adapted from Mr. Thiel’s soon-to-be-released book, Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future. Based on the title of the book, I assume it is primarily a how-to guide for entrepreneurs. ... Peter Thiel on the Virtues of Monopoly
Reforming FTC Data Security Enforcement
Recently I highlighted problems with the FTC’s enforcement actions targeting companies’ data security protection policies, and recommended that the FTC adopt a cost-benefit approach to regulation in this area. Yesterday the Heritage Foundation released a more detailed paper by me on this topic, replete with recommendations for new FTC guidance and specific reforms aimed at ... Reforming FTC Data Security Enforcement
Antitrust Enforcement in Reverse: Getting Efficiencies Backwards
A century ago Congress enacted the Clayton Act, which prohibits acquisitions that may substantially lessen competition. For years, the antitrust enforcement Agencies looked at only one part of the ledger – the potential for price increases. Agencies didn’t take into account the potential efficiencies in cost savings, better products, services, and innovation. One of the major ... Antitrust Enforcement in Reverse: Getting Efficiencies Backwards
Watching local and a la carte is a recipe for STAVRAtion
The free market position on telecom reform has become rather confused of late. Erstwhile conservative Senator Thune is now cosponsoring a version of Senator Rockefeller’s previously proposed video reform bill, bundled into satellite legislation (the Satellite Television Access and Viewer Rights Act or “STAVRA”) that would also include a provision dubbed “Local Choice.” Some free marketeers have defended ... Watching local and a la carte is a recipe for STAVRAtion
Double secret ex parte meetings at the FCC: Something’s amiss in the agency’s big transaction reviews
The Wall Street Journal dropped an FCC bombshell last week, although I’m not sure anyone noticed. In an article ostensibly about the possible role that MFNs might play in the Comcast/Time-Warner Cable merger, the Journal noted that The FCC is encouraging big media companies to offer feedback confidentially on Comcast’s $45-billion offer for Time Warner ... Double secret ex parte meetings at the FCC: Something’s amiss in the agency’s big transaction reviews
Intellectual Property, Innovation and Economic Growth: Mercatus Gets it Wrong
[Cross posted at the CPIP Blog.] By Mark Schultz & Adam Mossoff A handful of increasingly noisy critics of intellectual property (IP) have emerged within free market organizations. Both the emergence and vehemence of this group has surprised most observers, since free market advocates generally support property rights. It’s true that there has long been ... Intellectual Property, Innovation and Economic Growth: Mercatus Gets it Wrong
Swimming Against the Tide: The FTC’s Misguided Antagonism to Health Care Integration
There is a consensus in America that we need to control health care costs and improve the delivery of health care. After a long debate on health care reform and careful scrutiny of health care markets, there seems to be agreement that the unintegrated, “siloed approach” to health care is inefficient, costly, and contrary to ... Swimming Against the Tide: The FTC’s Misguided Antagonism to Health Care Integration
A Cost-Benefit Prescription for FTC Online Data Security Regulation
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) continues to expand its presence in online data regulation. On August 13 the FTC announced a forthcoming workshop to explore appropriate policies toward “big data,” a term used to refer to advancing technologies that are dramatically expanding the commercial collection, analysis, use, and storage of data. This initiative follows ... A Cost-Benefit Prescription for FTC Online Data Security Regulation
New Paper on SSOs, SEP and Antitrust by Joanna Tsai & Joshua Wright
An important new paper was recently posted to SSRN by Commissioner Joshua Wright and Joanna Tsai. It addresses a very hot topic in the innovation industries: the role of patented innovation in standard setting organizations (SSO), what are known as standard essential patents (SEP), and whether the nature of the contractual commitment that adheres to a ... New Paper on SSOs, SEP and Antitrust by Joanna Tsai & Joshua Wright
Microsoft’s Android Anathema
Microsoft wants you to believe that Google’s business practices stifle competition and harm consumers. Again. The latest volley in its tiresome and ironic campaign to bludgeon Google with the same regulatory club once used against Microsoft itself is the company’s effort to foment an Android-related antitrust case in Europe. In a recent polemic, Microsoft consultant (and business ... Microsoft’s Android Anathema
Teslas’s New Patent Policy: Long Live the Patent System!
[First posted to the CPIP Blog on June 17, 2014] Last Thursday, Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of Tesla Motors, issued an announcement on the company’s blog with a catchy title: “All Our Patent Are Belong to You.” Commentary in social media and on blogs, as well as in traditional newspapers, jumped to the conclusion ... Teslas’s New Patent Policy: Long Live the Patent System!
