Showing archive for: “UMC & UDAP”
Pushing the Limits? A Primer on FTC Competition Rulemaking
Since its founding in 1914, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has held a unique and multifaceted role in the U.S. administrative state and the economy. It possesses powerful investigative and information-gathering powers, including through compulsory processes; a multi-layered administrative-adjudication process to prosecute “unfair methods of competition (UMC)” (and later, “unfair and deceptive acts and practices ... Pushing the Limits? A Primer on FTC Competition Rulemaking
Why FTC Competition Rulemaking Likely Will Fail
I. Introduction In over a century of existence, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been a policy leader in developing American thinking about and in enforcing antitrust and consumer protection laws pursuant to several specific statutory mandates. It has also promulgated a substantial number of consumer protection rules, dealing with a wide variety of practices. ... Why FTC Competition Rulemaking Likely Will Fail
FTC UMC Roundup – OT22 Edition
Fireworks came a bit early this year. Between the Supreme Court’s end-of-term decisions and this week’s January 6th Committee hearings, it wasn’t a week with much antitrust news coming out of either the FTC or Congress. But the Supreme Court’s made sure to keep things exciting: the opinion in West Virginia v. EPA case will ... FTC UMC Roundup – OT22 Edition
FTC UMC Roundup – Trojan Horse Edition
Things are getting spicy in the administrative state. This week we have the first formal indication of new rules coming out of the FTC. We have lobbyists lobbying, and influencers influencing, CEOs loitering, and academics … academicing? We have some review and preview of what’s at stake with administrative law. We’ve got interesting upcoming events. ... FTC UMC Roundup – Trojan Horse Edition
FTC UMC Roundup – Circular Firing Squad Edition
Welcome to the FTC UMC Roundup for June 17, 2022. This week’s roundup is a bit shorter – but only because your narrator would rather be out climbing mountains in Squamish, BC, than reading or writing about Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-MN) pretty bad week. From where I sit, me climbing a multipitch 5.13 mountain looks ... FTC UMC Roundup – Circular Firing Squad Edition
FTC UMC Roundup – Welcome to the Press Tour
Welcome to the FTC UMC Roundup for June 10, 2022. This is a week of headlines! One would be forgiven for assuming that our focus, once again, would on the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA). I heard on the radio yesterday that it’s champion, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), has the 60 votes it ... FTC UMC Roundup – Welcome to the Press Tour
The FTC UMC Roundup – Welcome to June Edition
Welcome to the FTC UMC Roundup for June 3, 2023–Memorial Day week. The holiday meant we had a short week, but we still have plenty of news to share. It also means we’re now in meteorological summer, a reminder that the sands of legislative time run quickly through the hourglass. So it’s perhaps unsurprising that ... The FTC UMC Roundup – Welcome to June Edition
The FTC UMC Roundup – May 27 Edition
Welcome to the Truth on the Market FTC UMC Roundup for May 27, 2022. This week we have (Hail Mary?) revisions to Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-Minn.) American Innovation and Choice Online Act, initiatives that can’t decide whether they belong in Congress or the Federal Trade Commission, and yet more commentary on inflation and antitrust, along ... The FTC UMC Roundup – May 27 Edition
The FTC UMC Roundup–A Weekly Review
Welcome to the FTC UMC Roundup, our new weekly update of news and events relating to antitrust and, more specifically, to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) newfound interest in “revitalizing” the field. Each week we will bring you a brief recap of the week that was and a preview of the week to come. All ... The FTC UMC Roundup–A Weekly Review
Wrapping up Round One of the FTC UMC Symposium
Over the past three weeks, we have shared contributions from more than a dozen antitrust commentators—including academics, practitioners, students, and a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission—discussing the potential for the FTC to develop substantive rules using its unfair methods of competition (UMC) authority. This post offers a recap of where we have been so ... Wrapping up Round One of the FTC UMC Symposium
How the FTC Could, but Won’t, Use Its Rulemaking Authority to Allow Aftermarket Parts
We used to have a robust aftermarket for non-original equipment manufacturer (OEM) automobile repair parts and “independent” repair services, but car companies have increasingly resorted to design-patent protection to prevent competition in the supply of cosmetic repair parts such as bumpers, hoods, panels, and mirrors. The predictable and intended consequence has been to raise prices ... How the FTC Could, but Won’t, Use Its Rulemaking Authority to Allow Aftermarket Parts
Regulating Competition at the FTC
Introduction In November 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a draft strategic plan for fiscal years 2022-2026 that previewed its vision for enforcement without the rule of reason guiding the analysis and without consumer welfare defining the objective. The draft plan dropped a longstanding commitment from the FTC’s previous strategic plans to foster “vigorous ... Regulating Competition at the FTC
