Showing archive for: “FTC”
The Dishonesty of Conservative Attacks on Section 230
President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for repeal of Section 230. But while Trump and fellow conservatives decry Big Tech companies for their alleged anti-conservative bias, including at yet more recent hearings, their issue is not actually with Section 230. It’s with the First Amendment. Conservatives can’t actually do anything directly about how social media ... The Dishonesty of Conservative Attacks on Section 230
Antitrustifying Contract: Thoughts on Epic Games v. Apple and Apple v. Qualcomm
In the hands of a wise philosopher-king, the Sherman Act’s hard-to-define prohibitions of “restraints of trade” and “monopolization” are tools that will operate inevitably to advance the public interest in competitive markets. In the hands of real-world litigators, regulators and judges, those same words can operate to advance competitors’ private interests in securing commercial advantages ... Antitrustifying Contract: Thoughts on Epic Games v. Apple and Apple v. Qualcomm
The Fox and Shepherd Problem
I spent a lot of time with this topic when writing a book (How the Internet Became Commercial, 2015, Princeton Press). If I have something unique to add to a review of Petit’s book, it comes from the role Microsoft played in the events in my book. Many commentators have speculated on what precise charges ... The Fox and Shepherd Problem
In the Fight Against Qualcomm, Apple’s Loss is Apple’s Gain
Apple’s legal team will be relieved that “you reap what you sow” is just a proverb. After a long-running antitrust battle against Qualcomm unsurprisingly ended in failure, Apple now faces antitrust accusations of its own (most notably from Epic Games). Somewhat paradoxically, this turn of events might cause Apple to see its previous defeat in ... In the Fight Against Qualcomm, Apple’s Loss is Apple’s Gain
Rising Concentration: Drifters Followup Is Worse Than the Original
Germán Gutiérrez and Thomas Philippon have released a major rewrite of their paper comparing the U.S. and EU competitive environments. Although the NBER website provides an enticing title — “How European Markets Became Free: A Study of Institutional Drift” — the paper itself has a much more yawn-inducing title: “How EU Markets Became More Competitive ... Rising Concentration: Drifters Followup Is Worse Than the Original
Will Montesquieu Rescue Antitrust?
In an age of antitrust populism on both ends of the political spectrum, federal and state regulators face considerable pressure to deploy the antitrust laws against firms that have dominant market shares. Yet federal case law makes clear that merely winning the race for a market is an insufficient basis for antitrust liability. Rather, any ... Will Montesquieu Rescue Antitrust?
On the Origin of Platforms: An Evolutionary Perspective
Hardly a day goes by without news of further competition-related intervention in the digital economy. The past couple of weeks alone have seen the European Commission announce various investigations into Apple’s App Store (here and here), as well as reaffirming its desire to regulate so-called “gatekeeper” platforms. Not to mention the CMA issuing its final ... On the Origin of Platforms: An Evolutionary Perspective
Senator Hawley’s Unconstitutional, Unconservative Attack on the Internet
Twitter’s decision to begin fact-checking the President’s tweets caused a long-simmering distrust between conservatives and online platforms to boil over late last month. This has led some conservatives to ask whether Section 230, the ‘safe harbour’ law that protects online platforms from certain liability stemming from content posted on their websites by users, is allowing ... Senator Hawley’s Unconstitutional, Unconservative Attack on the Internet
Congress Considers Privacy in the Context of COVID-19 and Gets it All Wrong
The COVID-19 crisis has recast virtually every contemporary policy debate in the context of public health, and digital privacy is no exception. Conversations that once focused on the value and manner of tracking to enable behavioral advertising have shifted. Congress, on the heels of years of false-starts and failed efforts to introduce nationwide standards, is ... Congress Considers Privacy in the Context of COVID-19 and Gets it All Wrong
The Negative Externalities of Protecting Privacy
The public policy community’s infatuation with digital privacy has grown by leaps and bounds since the enactment of GDPR and the CCPA, but COVID-19 may leave the most enduring mark on the actual direction that privacy policy takes. As the pandemic and associated lockdowns first began, there were interesting discussions cropping up about the inevitable ... The Negative Externalities of Protecting Privacy
Let’s (NOT) Stop All the Mergers: The Case for Letting the Agencies Do Their Jobs
Never let a crisis go to waste, or so they say. In the past two weeks, some of the same people who sought to stop mergers and acquisitions during the bull market took the opportunity of the COVID-19 pandemic and the new bear market to call to ban M&A. On Friday, April 24th, Rep. David ... Let’s (NOT) Stop All the Mergers: The Case for Letting the Agencies Do Their Jobs
Cooperation, Competition, and COVID-19
Cooperation is the basis of productivity. The war of all against all is not a good model for any economy. Who said it—a rose-emoji Twitter Marxist, or a card-carrying member of the laissez faire Chicago School of economics? If you guessed the latter, you’d be right. Frank Easterbrook penned these words in an antitrust ... Cooperation, Competition, and COVID-19
