November 20, 2013

Senator Markey’s Do Not Track Kids Act of 2013 Raises the Question: What’s the Point of COPPA?

Ben Sperry

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) continues to be a hot button issue for many online businesses and privacy advocates. On November 14, Senator Markey, along with Senator Kirk…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

October 11, 2013

Google: Great Deal or Greatest Deal?

Ben Sperry

Critics of Google have argued that users overvalue Google’s services in relation to the data they give away.  One breath-taking headline asked Who Would Pay $5,000 to Use Google?, suggesting that…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

November 26, 2012

The market realities that undermine the antitrust case against Google

Geoffrey A. Manne

As the Google antitrust discussion heats up on its way toward some culmination at the FTC, I thought it would be helpful to address some of the major issues raised…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

May 22, 2012

New Technology in Europe

Paul Rubin

Last week the New York Times ran an article, “Building the Next Facebook a Tough Task in Europe“, by Eric Pfanner, discussing the lack of major high tech innovation in…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

January 26, 2012

“Protecting” Consumers from the Truth About the Cost of Government

Thomas Lambert

A new rule kicks in today requiring airlines to include all taxes and mandatory fees in their advertised fares.  The rule, part of a broader “passengers’ bill of rights”-type regulation…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

January 12, 2012

Fed should stay out of Google/Twitter social search spat

Geoffrey A. Manne

As has become customary with just about every new product announcement by Google these days, the company’s introduction on Tuesday of its new “Search, plus Your World” (SPYW) program, which…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

December 9, 2011

Is Google Search Bias Consistent with Anticompetitive Foreclosure?

Joshua Wright

In my series of three posts (here, here and here) drawn from my empirical study on search bias I have examined whether search bias exists, and, if so, how frequently…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

December 2, 2011

Carrier IQ: Another Silly Privacy Panic

Paul Rubin

By now everyone is probably aware of the “tracking” of certain cellphones (Sprint, iPhone, T-Mobile, AT&T perhaps others) by a company called Carrier IQ.  There are lots of discussions available;…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

November 15, 2011

Privacy Again

Paul Rubin

Today’s Wall Street Journal has a long article-debate on privacy.  The strongest pro-privacy is Christopher Soghoian of the Open Society Institute.  He confuses commercial privacy with government privacy: “The dirty…

Data Security & Privacy