FTC Hearings on Competition & Consumer Protection in the 21 st Century. Comments of the International Center for Law & Economics: The FTC’s Flawed Data Security Enforcement Program and Suggestions for Reform. Hearing #9 (Dec. 11-12, 2018). Submitted May 31, 2019.

In a recent article[1] Joe Kattan and Tim Muris (K&M) criticize our article[2] on the predictive power of bargaining models in antitrust, in which we used two recent applications to explore implications for uses of bargaining models in courts and antitrust agencies moving forward.

The courtroom trial in the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) antitrust case against Qualcomm ended in January with a promise from the judge in the case, Judge Lucy Koh, to issue a ruling as quickly as possible — caveated by her acknowledgement that the case is complicated and the evidence voluminous.

Just days before leaving office, the outgoing Obama FTC left what should have been an unwelcome parting gift for the incoming Commission: an antitrust suit against Qualcomm.

FTC Hearings on Competition & Consumer Protection in the 21 st Century. Comments of the International Center for Law & Economics: Understanding Competition in Markets Involving Data or Personal or Commercial Information. Hearing # 6 (Nov. 6-8, 2018). Submitted January 7, 2019.

Although the FTC is well-staffed with highly skilled economists, its approach to data security is disappointingly light on economic analysis. The unfortunate result of this lacuna is an approach to these complex issues lacking in analytical rigor and the humility borne of analysis grounded in sound economics.

FTC Hearings on Competition & Consumer Protection in the 21st Century. Comments of the International Center for Law & Economics: The Continued Viability and Flexibility of the Consumer Welfare Standard, and the Weakness of Its Alternatives. Hearing # 5 (Nov. 1, 2018). Submitted December 31, 2018.

On November 14, 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (“Commission”) issued an opinion condemning as an antitrust violation trademark settlement agreements between 1-800 Contacts (“1-800”) and fourteen online sellers of contact lenses.

On Monday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Qualcomm reportedly requested a 30 day delay to a preliminary ruling in their ongoing dispute over the terms of Qualcomm’s licensing agreements–indicating that they may seek a settlement.