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Showing archive for:  “EU”

The EU tightens the noose around Google

Here we go again.  The European Commission is after Google more formally than a few months ago (but not yet having issued a Statement of Objections). For background on the single-firm antitrust issues surrounding Google I modestly recommend my paper with Josh, Google and the Limits of Antitrust: The Case Against the Antitrust Case Against ... The EU tightens the noose around Google

Why Take Antitrust? (Fall 2010 Edition)

In what has become an annual affair, around this time of the year, I like to make the case for law students to take antitrust. Each year, the post is edited and tweaked a little bit.  So, without further ado, here is this year’s edition of “Why Take Antitrust?” As the start of the new ... Why Take Antitrust? (Fall 2010 Edition)

Some Links

Intel and FTC settlement talks heat up (WSJ) Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal leads state AG crusade against Google’s Street View data collection (WSJ) Some good coverage of the FTC Workshop on the future of journalism, i.e. whether and how to save newspapers (here, here and here) Greg Mankiw on crisis economics New antitrust complaint against ... Some Links

Comments on Jonathan Baker's Preserving a Political Bargain

I’ve recently finished reading Jonathan Baker’s Preserving a Political Bargain: The Political Economy of the Non-Interventionist Challenge to Monopolization Enforcement, forthcoming in the Antitrust Law Journal. Baker’s central thesis in Preserving a Political Bargain builds on earlier work concerning competition policy as an implicit political bargain that was reached during the 1940s between the more ... Comments on Jonathan Baker's Preserving a Political Bargain

David Balto (and the FTC) gets it woefully wrong on Intel

David Balto has penned a short apologia of the FTC’s Intel case (HT: Danny Sokol).  Unfortunately his defense (and, unfortunately, the FTC’s case) is woefully misguided. Balto writes: Intel has been clearly dominant in the market for central processing units (CPUs) with between 80 percent and 98 percent of the market. The practices at issue ... David Balto (and the FTC) gets it woefully wrong on Intel

The Case Against the Antitrust Case Against Google

We have just uploaded to SSRN a draft of our article assessing the economics and the law of the antitrust case directed at the core of Google’s business:  Its search and search advertising platform.  The article is Google and the Limits of Antitrust: The Case Against the Antitrust Case Against Google.  This is really the ... The Case Against the Antitrust Case Against Google

The dark side of altruism

Have you ever been tempted to buy a beggar a cup of coffee or a sandwich instead of giving money? If so, you have, like a young Anakin Skywalker, taken your first step to the dark side of altruism. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been there too. The reason I offered food instead of (money ... The dark side of altruism

Breaking Antitrust News: Imposing Duty to Promote Rivals Helps Rivals

From the AP: Norway’s Opera said Thursday that downloads of its browser more than doubled after Microsoft Corp. was forced to give European users a choice of Web software to settle European Union antitrust charges.  Microsoft started sending updates to Windows computers in Europe in early March that launches a pop-up screen telling them to ... Breaking Antitrust News: Imposing Duty to Promote Rivals Helps Rivals

Big Yet Not-So-Surprising Antitrust News Of the Day: EU Opens Google Investigation

The EU has launched its preliminary investigation of Google’s search engine and search advertising businesses.  From the Financial Times: According to Google, one of the three complaints was from rival Microsoft. That protest, from an online service called Ciao that was recently bought by the software company, echoes a complaint that had already been lodged ... Big Yet Not-So-Surprising Antitrust News Of the Day: EU Opens Google Investigation

Some thoughts on the Olympics

I just love the Olympics. Exhibit A for me was the face of American skier Lindsey Vonn in the starting gate last night before her gold-medal-winning race. Vonn was the overwhelming favorite, having proved herself the greatest skier in the world for the past few years. She was, however, plagued by a nasty shin injury ... Some thoughts on the Olympics

The SEC gets that old time climate religion. Hallelujah, praise Gore.

Today the SEC voted 3-2 to approve an interpretive release offering guidance to companies on disclosure obligations as they relate to climate change.  Commissioners Casey and Paredes voted to reject the proposed guidance. Everyone can agree that companies may have an obligation under Regulation S-K to disclose risks arising from, among other many things, climate ... The SEC gets that old time climate religion. Hallelujah, praise Gore.

Features v. Bugs: Intel and the Relationship Between Sections 2 and 5

There will be much to say about the Federal Trade Commission’s Intel complaint in the coming months.  And we’ve said quite a bit already.  But having just read the complaint and the statements from Chairman Leibowitz and Commissioner Rosch discussing the various rationales for making Section 5 the primary hook for this case, I wanted ... Features v. Bugs: Intel and the Relationship Between Sections 2 and 5