March 20, 2015

FTC Staff Report on Google: Much Ado About Nothing

Geoffrey A. Manne

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the FTC Bureau of Competition staff report to the commissioners in the Google antitrust investigation recommended that the Commission approve an antitrust suit…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

March 5, 2015

Interesting Upcoming Law and Economics Center Privacy Event

Ben Sperry

On Wednesday, March 18, our fellow law-and-economics-focused brethren at George Mason’s Law and Economics Center will host a very interesting morning briefing on the intersection of privacy, big data, consumer protection, and…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

January 1, 2015

The FTC's Misguided Notion of a “Common Law” of Data Security

Geoffrey A. Manne & Ben Sperry

"Commissioner Brill and a few academics have described the FTC’s data security settlements as developing a “common law” of data security. It is not readily apparent, however, that the over 50 independent complaints and settlement agreements between the FTC and particular companies amounts to what is traditionally understood as the common law.

Data Security & Privacy

December 31, 2014

Comments, Effects of Big Data on Low Income & Underserved Communities, FTC

Geoffrey A. Manne & Ben Sperry & Berin Szoka & Tom Struble

"To the American ear, there is perhaps no uglier word than “discrimination.” The mere mention brings to mind Bull Connor, turning police dogs and fire hoses onto Martin Luther King, Jr.’s non violent demonstrators against Jim Crow in Birmingham, back in the 1962..."

Data Security & Privacy

December 8, 2014

Letter, Urging FTC Advise FCC Employ Case-by-Case Rules in Regulating Net Neutrality, FTC

Geoffrey A. Manne

"We are professors and scholars of law, business, economics, and public policy with expertise in communications, competition, innovation, industrial organization and related fields..."

Telecommunications

August 5, 2014

Comments, Big Data and Consumer Privacy in the Internet Economy

Geoffrey A. Manne & Ben Sperry & Berin Szoka & Tom Struble

"...A serious assessment of the need for new privacy legislation, and the right way to frame it, would not begin by assuming the premise that a particular framework is necessary..."

Data Security & Privacy

July 31, 2014

First Apple, then Amazon: Where is the FTC Heading on Digital Consumer Protection?

Kristian Stout

FTC Commissioner Joshua Wright will be the keynote speaker at TechFreedom and ICLE’s latest installment in their year-long project “FTC: Technology and Reform,” launched in December. Join us on Thursday,…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

July 28, 2014

Joshua Wright, Martin Gaynor and Past FTC Officials to Speak at ICLE Event on Apple and Amazon Cases

Geoffrey A. Manne

The Federal Trade Commission’s recent enforcement actions against Amazon and Apple raise important questions about the FTC’s consumer protection practices, especially its use of economics. How does the Commission weigh…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection

July 10, 2014

The FTC’s in-app purchasing complaint against Amazon reflects its flawed, per se approach to unfairness

Geoffrey A. Manne

Today the FTC filed its complaint in federal district court in Washington against Amazon, alleging that the company’s in-app purchasing system permits children to make in-app purchases without parental “informed…

Antitrust & Consumer Protection