In a surprising move, the U.S. Justice Department’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division has thrown its weight behind a lawsuit that could reshape how courts—and antitrust enforcers—think about competition in digital media. The agency’s statement of interest filed last month in Children’s Health Defense v. Washington Post doesn’t merely take up the legal merits of a questionable ... Truth Cartels? The DOJ’s Misguided Leap into Viewpoint Regulation The post Truth Cartels? The DOJ’s Misguid...| Truth on the Market
The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) Antitrust Division filed a statement of interest late last week in a private antitrust case brought against a number of major news publishers by, among others, the Children’s Health Defense—the organization previously chaired by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Nominally, the DOJ’s statement can be ... Antitrust and Collusion on Regulating Misinformation: Thoughts on the DOJ’s Statement of Interest The post Antitrust an...| Truth on the Market
Various states are ramping up their review of proposed mergers and acquisitions. Both Washington and Colorado have enacted new pre-merger notification statutes that will take effect this summer, and other states have introduced or are considering similar legislation. These changes could impose major new costs on potential merging parties and harm the U.S. economy. In ... New State Merger-Review Laws Could Harm US Economy| Truth on the Market
Germany’s Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office, or FCO) issued a preliminary legal assessment last week suggesting that Amazon had potentially infringed both European and national rules on abuse of dominance. At issue in the investigation is Amazon’s price-control mechanisms, also known as pricing filters. The filters rely on algorithms and statistical models, particularly dynamic price caps ... Still Haven’t Found What the Bundeskartellamt Is Looking For: Thoughts on the German Amaz...| Truth on the Market
A curious political convergence has been reshaping U.S. antitrust policy. Conservative populists have found common cause with the so-called “neo-Brandeisians” of the left—named for the late Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis—in seeking to challenge big business, particularly the tech giants. While both cohorts’ concerns about concentrated power deserve attention, their shared willingness to abandon the ... A Hipster and a Hillbilly Walk into a Bar The post A Hipster and a Hillbi...| Truth on the Market
When many think about monopolies and unfair business practices, they typically picture large corporations squashing smaller rivals. But there’s another significant culprit restricting competition that gets far less attention: government regulations themselves. The Trump administration has in recent weeks taken the first steps toward reining in some of these regulations. The U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) ... Could the DOJ and FTC Reform Regulations that Harm Competition? The post Could the...| Truth on the Market
The California Law Revision Commission (CLRC) is currently reviewing proposed amendments to the state’s antitrust statutes, particularly the Cartwright Act. As made clear in a recently published memo, a major goal of the effort is clearly to distance California from the perceived constraints of federal antitrust law that limit liability for single-firm conduct under Section ... California Leads the Charge in Systematically Dismantling US Federal Antitrust Law The post California Leads the C...| Truth on the Market
Charter Communications Inc. and Cox Communications Inc. have announced a plan to merge in a $34.5 billion deal. The transaction would create the nation’s largest cable operator, surpassing Comcast, with approximately 38 million subscribers across 46 states. Predictably, the proposal triggered concerns about cable-industry consolidation. Yet the reflexive anxiety about “big cable getting bigger” misses ... The Charter-Cox Merger Should Sail Through, But Will It? The post The Charter-Co...| Truth on the Market
When it was passed into law, the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) was heralded by supporters as a key step toward fairness and contestability in online markets. It has unfortunately become increasingly clear that reality might not live up to those expectations. Indeed, there is mounting evidence that European consumers’ online experiences have been ... The Future of the DMA: Judge Dredd or Juror 8?| Truth on the Market