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Showing archive for:  “International Antitrust”

Google’s India case and a return to consumer-focused antitrust

What happened Today, following a six year investigation into Google’s business practices in India, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) issued its ruling. Two things, in particular, are remarkable about the decision. First, while the CCI’s staff recommended a finding of liability on a litany of claims (the exact number is difficult to infer from ... Google’s India case and a return to consumer-focused antitrust

Fourth Annual Heritage Foundation Antitrust Conference: A Quick Summary

On January 23rd, the Heritage Foundation convened its Fourth Annual Antitrust Conference, “Trump Antitrust Policy after One Year.”  The entire Conference can be viewed online (here).  The Conference featured a keynote speech, followed by three separate panels that addressed  developments at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), at the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division (DOJ), and in ... Fourth Annual Heritage Foundation Antitrust Conference: A Quick Summary

The destiny of telecom regulation is antitrust

This week the FCC will vote on Chairman Ajit Pai’s Restoring Internet Freedom Order. Once implemented, the Order will rescind the 2015 Open Internet Order and return antitrust and consumer protection enforcement to primacy in Internet access regulation in the U.S. In anticipation of that, earlier this week the FCC and FTC entered into a ... The destiny of telecom regulation is antitrust

The Present State and Future Prospects of the International Competition Network (ICN)

Introduction The International Competition Network (ICN), a “virtual” organization comprised of most of the world’s competition (antitrust) agencies and expert non-governmental advisors (NGAs), held its Sixteenth Annual Conference in Porto, Portugal from May 10-12. (I attended this Conference as an NGA.) Now that the ICN has turned “sweet sixteen,” a stocktaking is appropriate. The ICN ... The Present State and Future Prospects of the International Competition Network (ICN)

Global Antitrust Institute Points the Way Toward Sounder Japanese Antitrust Guidelines

The indefatigable (and highly talented) scriveners at the Scalia Law School’s Global Antitrust Institute (GAI) once again have offered a trenchant law and economics assessment that, if followed, would greatly improve a foreign jurisdiction’s competition law guidance. This latest assessment, which is compelling and highly persuasive, is embodied in a May 4 GAI Commentary on ... Global Antitrust Institute Points the Way Toward Sounder Japanese Antitrust Guidelines

Significant Impediment To Industry Innovation: A novel theory of harm in EU merger policy?

In Brussels, the talk of the town is that the European Commission (“Commission”) is casting a new eye on the old antitrust conjecture that prophesizes a negative relationship between industry concentration and innovation. This issue arises in the context of the review of several mega-mergers in the pharmaceutical and AgTech (i.e., seed genomics, biochemicals, “precision ... Significant Impediment To Industry Innovation: A novel theory of harm in EU merger policy?

Experts’ Report Proposes Greater Coordination of U.S. Competition Law and Trade Law Policies

On March 14, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a report “by an independent group of experts it commissioned to consider U.S. responses to the inappropriate use of antitrust enforcement actions worldwide to achieve industrial policy outcomes.”  (See here and here.)  I served as rapporteur for the report, which represents the views of the experts ... Experts’ Report Proposes Greater Coordination of U.S. Competition Law and Trade Law Policies

Competition Policy for a New Administration

As Truth on the Market readers prepare to enjoy their Thanksgiving dinners, let me offer some (hopefully palatable) “food for thought” on a competition policy for the new Trump Administration.  In referring to competition policy, I refer not just to lawsuits directed against private anticompetitive conduct, but more broadly to efforts aimed at curbing government ... Competition Policy for a New Administration

ICN Advocacy Workshop a Success

On November 1st and 2nd, Cofece, the Mexican Competition Agency, hosted an International Competition Network (ICN) workshop on competition advocacy, featuring presentations from government agency officials, think tanks, and international organizations.  The workshop highlighted the excellent work that the ICN has done in supporting efforts to curb the most serious source of harm to the ... ICN Advocacy Workshop a Success

Acting AAG’s Policy Speech Sends the Wrong Signals on Antitrust Enforcement (or “a Wild Ride Back to the Fifties and Sixties”)

In a September 20 speech at the high profile Georgetown Global Antitrust Enforcement Symposium, Acting Assistant Attorney General Renata Hesse sent the wrong signals to the business community and to foreign enforcers (see here) regarding U.S. antitrust policy.  Admittedly, a substantial part of her speech was a summary of existing U.S. antitrust doctrine.  In certain ... Acting AAG’s Policy Speech Sends the Wrong Signals on Antitrust Enforcement (or “a Wild Ride Back to the Fifties and Sixties”)

Global Antitrust Institute Propounds Recommendations for Reform of Japan’s Administrative Surcharge System

On August 6, the Global Antitrust Institute (the GAI, a division of the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University) submitted a filing (GAI filing or filing) in response to the Japan Fair Trade Commission’s (JFTC’s) consultation on reforms to the Japanese system of administrative surcharges assessed for competition law violations (see here for ... Global Antitrust Institute Propounds Recommendations for Reform of Japan’s Administrative Surcharge System

Global Antitrust Institute Comments on Chinese Draft Antitrust Guidelines Regarding Disgorgement and Fines Have Broader Implications for Sound Antitrust Enforcement Policy

The Global Antitrust Institute (GAI) at George Mason University Law School (officially the “Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University” as of July 1st) is doing an outstanding job at providing sound law and economics-centered advice to foreign governments regarding their proposed antitrust laws and guidelines. The GAI’s latest inspired filing, released on July ... Global Antitrust Institute Comments on Chinese Draft Antitrust Guidelines Regarding Disgorgement and Fines Have Broader Implications for Sound Antitrust Enforcement Policy