Showing archive for: “Monopolization”
Cartels With Benefits: The Trouble With Extending Labor’s Antitrust Exemption
Antitrust law’s usual instruction to competitors who agree on price is admirably brief: Don’t. Labor law makes a deliberate exception for employees who bargain collectively. Advocates now want that exception to cover at least some independent contractors, including rideshare drivers, truck owner-operators, consultants, and other small-business owners. The proposal may sound like a tidy way ... Cartels With Benefits: The Trouble With Extending Labor’s Antitrust Exemption
Copy, Paste, Compensate: Nigeria’s Misguided Bid to Make Big Tech Pay for News
Nigeria has looked south and seen a $40 million payday for the press. The trouble is that it misread both the price tag and the fine print—and its attempt to collect may leave Nigerian publishers with fewer readers and no comparable payday. On July 6, Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) announced investigations ... Copy, Paste, Compensate: Nigeria’s Misguided Bid to Make Big Tech Pay for News
Gotta Catch ’Em All? Antitrust and the AI Talent Wars
The AI talent wars have produced a steady stream of stories that seem tailor-made to confirm everyone’s worst suspicions about Big Tech: nine-figure pay packages for star researchers, entire startup teams absorbed without a formal acquisition, and—most strikingly—reports of elite AI scientists paid handsomely to do nothing for a year under “garden leave” arrangements rather ... Gotta Catch ’Em All? Antitrust and the AI Talent Wars
Fit for Purpose, Unfit for Review: Why the DMA’s First Evaluation Could Never Find Failure
The first review of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) reads less like an evaluation than a wellness check performed by the patient’s proud parent. The pulse is strong. The color is good. Any lingering symptoms? Too early to tell. On April 28, 2026, the European Commission published the review required under Article 53 and declared ... Fit for Purpose, Unfit for Review: Why the DMA’s First Evaluation Could Never Find Failure
California’s Other Wealth Tax
California is once again testing how much punishment capital will tolerate before it packs a bag. The state’s impending ballot proposition imposing a “billionaire’s tax” has drawn plenty of attention for precisely that reason: If the tax drives enough wealth elsewhere, it could lose more revenue than it raises. But a quieter proposal now moving ... California’s Other Wealth Tax
The FTC’s Sunk-Cost Social Network
The first rule of holes is supposed to be: stop digging. The sunk-cost fallacy is realized when we keep digging anyway—and then call it resolve. We—people—often have a hard time letting a bad thing go. That’s true even for those who are well acquainted with the sunk-cost fallacy and should know better. I’ve been there. ... The FTC’s Sunk-Cost Social Network
Antitrust Standing Room Only
Antitrust law does not hand out damages just because someone got hurt in the general vicinity of an antitrust violation. A plaintiff must show more than bad conduct, more than lost money, and more than a plausible violation of the Sherman Act. The loss must come from the thing antitrust law exists to protect: competition. ... Antitrust Standing Room Only
Brazil, Bots, and the Price of Free
Brazil’s WhatsApp case began as a fight over access to an application programming interface, or API—the technical doorway that lets outside services connect to WhatsApp. It has quickly become a test of how antitrust law should treat AI distribution. The Federal Court of São Paulo has now suspended the R$250,000, or about $50,000, daily fine ... Brazil, Bots, and the Price of Free
In Space, No One Can See Your HHI
Two rocket companies walk into an antitrust review. They leave as a de facto monopoly. And somehow, the punchline may be that this was good for consumers, taxpayers, and maybe even competition. A little context. In 2006, Boeing and Lockheed Martin combined their launch divisions into a joint venture called United Launch Alliance (ULA). That’s ... In Space, No One Can See Your HHI
AI, Antitrust, and the Mirage of Data Dominance
Not all supposed barriers to entry are created equal. The ones that matter for antitrust are not just costs, advantages, or inputs controlled by leading firms. They are durable impediments that keep rivals from entering, expanding, and disciplining market power. That distinction matters in generative artificial intelligence (AI), where policymakers increasingly worry that control over ... AI, Antitrust, and the Mirage of Data Dominance
From Competition to Exclusion: Can Discounts Go Too Far?
When does a discount cross the line from competition to exclusion? That question now sits before a federal district court weighing the U.S. Justice Department’s (DOJ) antitrust case against Visa Inc. and its debit-card business, where Visa holds a 60% share. In the waning days of the Biden administration, on Sept. 24, 2024, the DOJ ... From Competition to Exclusion: Can Discounts Go Too Far?
Schrödinger’s Quantum Market: Regulating What May or May Not Exist
Competition authorities are gearing up to regulate quantum computing. The problem: there is no market there yet. In March 2026, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) launched an “IC59 fact-finding inquiry” into quantum, citing concerns that ongoing developments could shape long-term competition. Drawing on lessons from artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud markets, the AGCM flagged familiar ... Schrödinger’s Quantum Market: Regulating What May or May Not Exist
