ICLE on New York v Facebook

Law.com – An article in Law.com cited the amicus brief ICLE filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in the case of New York v. Facebook. You can read the full piece (behind a subscriber firewall) here.

White & Case: Antitrust partner George Paul is backing the International Center for Law & Economics and a group of scholars specializing in economics, telecommunications and antitrust. Associates Andrew Black, Jaclyn Phillips, Nathan Swire and Rucha Phadtare are also named on the brief.

The group seeks to refute a portion of the states’ case that focuses on Facebook’s refusal to allow its platforms to work with potential competitors.

“Mainstream economists and competition law scholars are skeptical of imposing liability, even on a monopolist, based solely on its choice of business partners,” the brief states. “The freedom of firms to choose their business partners is a fundamental tenet of the free market economy, and the mechanism by which markets produce the greatest welfare gains.”