The FTC Knows It When It Sees It
When Congress created the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 1914, it charged the agency with condemning “unfair methods of competition.” That’s not the language Congress used in . . .
The FTC Knows It When It Sees It
The FTC’s UMC Policy Statement: Untethered from Consumer Welfare and the Rule of Reason
On Nov. 10, 2022, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a new policy statement regarding the scope of “unfair methods of competition” (UMC) under Section 5 of the FTC Act. The new statement fills the gap left by the Commission’s July 2021 rescission of its 2015 policy statement.
Price-Parity Clauses: The Good, The Bad, and the…Anticompetitive?
Price-parity clauses have, until recently, been little discussed in the academic vertical-price-restraints literature. Their growing importance, however, cannot be ignored, and common misconceptions around their . . .
Antitrust Unchained: The EU’s Case Against Self-Preferencing
Examining whether self-preferencing should be considered a new standalone offense under European competition law.
European Commission Objection to App Store Rules Lack Empirical Support
The European Commission recently issued a formal Statement of Objections (SO) in which it charges Apple with antitrust breach. In a nutshell, the commission argues that Apple . . .
Should Antitrust Enforcement Account for Socially Desirable, but Otherwise Anticompetitive, Objectives?
Prepared for 2021 ABA Antitrust Spring Meeting, Panel on “Competitors Coordinating to Do Good,” March 26, 2021 Arguments abound that we should reform antitrust and . . .
The FTC Did Not ‘Fumble the Future’ in Its Google Search Investigation
In the final analysis, what the revelations do not show is that the FTC’s market for ideas failed consumers a decade ago when it declined to bring an antitrust suit against Google.
Werden and Froeb: The Conspicuous Silences of the Proposed Vertical Merger Guidelines
The proposed Vertical Merger Guidelines provide little practical guidance, especially on the key issue of what would lead one of the Agencies to determine that . . .
Does Apple’s “Discrimination” Against Rival Apps in the App Store harm Consumers?
For most people, the word discrimination has a pejorative connotation of animus based upon prejudice ... but another definition is a lot less charged: the act of making or perceiving a difference.