Search Results

Here’s the link to the conference, and the program, which covers all angles of social media and the law.  Predictably, my interest here is competition policy — I’ll be on the 10:45 panel discussing those issues along with: Michael Altschul (CTIA), Nicolas Economides (NYU), Adam Thierer (GMU), and Moderator Steve Wildman (MSU).

The link to the webcast is here.  If you’re there, please come and say hello after the panel.

Filed under: antitrust, technology

Yesterday, the editorial page of the New York Times opined that wireless consumers needed “more protection” than that afforded by voluntary agreements by the carriers and existing regulation. The essay pointed to the “troublesome pricing practices that have flourished” in the industry, including Verizon’s alleged billing errors, as the basis for stepped up enforcement. As evidence of a lack of wireless competition, the editorial cites several indicia, none of which is persuasive.

Read the full piece here.

Last month the New York Times ran an editorial with the headline “Addressing the Justice Gap,” observing that “the poor need representation and thousands of law graduates need work.”  The piece proposed several solutions, but notably absent was the reform most likely to deliver legal services to those in need and to create jobs for unemployed lawyers:  corporations should be able to own law practices and provide legal representation.  It’s not only a matter of managing the justice gap in America in the face of an enduring economic recession and increased global competition; it’s also a matter of First Amendment concern.

Read the full piece here.

The Henry G. Manne Program in Law & Economics Studies and Google present a conference on The Law and Economics of Search Engines and Online Advertising to be held at George Mason University School of Law, Thursday, June 16th, 2011. The conference will run from 8:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.

OVERVIEW:

This conference is organized by Henry N. Butler, Executive Director of the Law & Economics Center and George Mason Foundation Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law, and Joshua D. Wright, Associate Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law.

Search and online advertising are important parts of the economy. They are also young industries. As such, understanding both the way in which search and online advertising operate as well as how these markets may evolve is fundamental to any economic and policy discussion. A deep understanding of the technology and economics of search, network effects, the antitrust economics of market definition, and the relationship between search and online advertising are required to facilitate sensible policies in this area. This conference seeks to address these issues by inviting experts in the field to present their views and engage with each other about the economic realities of search and online advertising.

REGISTRATION:

Attendance for this conference is by invitation only. To receive an invitation, please send a message with your name, affiliation, and full contact information to:

Contact: Jeff Smith
Email: [email protected]

AGENDA:

Thursday, June 16, 2011:

7:30 – 8:20 A.M.: Registration and breakfast

8:30 – 10:00 A.M.:  PANEL 1: What Role Do Network Effects Play In the Search Market?

Network effects often play an important role in analyzing competition in high-tech markets. Network effects present opportunities for enhanced consumer welfare, but also can create the potential for competitive harms. Potential network effects must be examined in a market and technology specific-context in order to understand their likely effects. This panel takes up this question by re-examining what network externalities and network effects are and analyzing whether they are present in search and related technologies. Panelists:

• Michael L. Katz, Sarin Chair in Strategy and Leadership, University of California, Berkeley
• Geoffrey A. Manne, Executive Director, International Center for Law & Economics
• Stanley J. Liebowitz, Ashbel Smith Professor of Economics, University of Texas at Dallas
• William H. Page, Marshall M. Criser Eminent Scholar, University of Florida Levin College of Law (moderator)

10:30 A.M. – 12:00 P.M.: PANEL 2: Competition and Online Advertising

Defining online markets is a complex and difficult task. Are advertising markets the same across web properties? What is the relationship between online and offline properties or text ads and display ads? Is the ad market for search services and content services different? This panel explores competition and online advertising. Panelists:

• Damien Geradin, Professor of Competition Law and Economics, Tilburg University
• Daniel L. Rubinfeld, Robert L. Bridges Professor of Law and Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley
• Catherine Tucker, Douglas Drane Career Development Professor in IT and Management and Assistant Professor of Marketing, MIT Sloan School of Management
• Michael R. Baye, Bert Elwart Professor of Business and Professor of Business Economics & Public Policy, Indiana University Kelley School of Business (moderator)

12:00 – 1:30 P.M.: LUNCH and KEYNOTE:

Engineering Search – Mark Paskin, Software Engineer, Search Quality, Google,Inc.

1:30 – 3:30 P.M.: PANEL 3: Competition and Search Markets

Much of the policy discussion on competition and search has centered on firms who participate in the search market in the traditional sense, such as Bing, Yahoo!, Blekko, Google, and others. However, the Internet provides many other ways for users to engage with and take advantage of its benefits. Vertical search markets such as Amazon or travel sites present examples of competition in search. Social media platforms (e.g., Facebook and Twitter) and the rise of mobile apps also present a competitive challenge for search. Furthermore, news sites, direct navigation, and offline information relate to our understanding of the proper market definition in search. This panel examines how platforms compete against search and the implications of that competition. Panelists:

• Benjamin G. Edelman, Assistant Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
• Randal C. Picker, Leffman Professor of Commercial Law, University of Chicago Law School
• Paul Liu, Senior Economist, Google, Inc.
• Thomas M. Lenard, President and Senior Fellow, Technology Policy Institute (moderator)

3:30 – 5:00 P.M.: PANEL 4: The Potential Costs and Benefits of Search Regulation

Some commentators have raised the question of whether search providers are sufficiently “neutral” in presenting results, which begs the question of whether concepts such as “objectivity” and “neutrality” are desirable or even achievable in the search industry. This panel will examine these questions and explore what impact regulatory efforts to impose “neutrality” principles might have on consumer welfare and on the innovation being driven by companies like Google, Bing, and Facebook. Panelists:

• Eric Goldman, Associate Professor of Law and Director of the High Tech Law Institute, Santa Clara University School of Law
• David Balto, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
• Frank Pasquale, Schering-Plough Professor in Health Care Regulation and Enforcement, Seton Hall University School of Law
• Joshua D. Wright, Associate Professor of Law, George Mason University School of Law (moderator)

VENUE:

George Mason University School of Law
3301 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201

CONFERENCE HOTEL:

The Westin Arlington Gateway
801 North Glebe Road
Arlington, VA 22203
(703) 717-6200

FURTHER INFORMATION:

For more information regarding this conference or other initiatives of the Law & Economics Center, please visit MasonLEC.org.

 

Filed under: antitrust, economics, google, technology

Slate’s David Weigel ran an otherwise informative piece on Cass Sunstein’s testimony, as head of OIRA, at a recent House Energy and Commerce Committee.  The headline?  Nudge on Trial: Cass Sunstein Defends the White House Against a Republican Attack.  From Weigel’s description of the hearing, there was some general hand wringing about whether there is too much or too little regulation, whether the number of regulations is higher or lower under the Obama administration than during the George W. Bush administration, some run-of-the-mill posturing from questioners.  Weigel concludes the hearing ended “with Sunstein having done no obvious harm to his mission.”

All fine.  And like I said — the article was informative with regard to the hearing.  But its a pretty sloppy and misleading headline.   There are, I think, some interesting issues concerning whether the Obama administration has retreated from behavioral economics a la Nudge, whether (as Ezra Klein contends) Republicans hate behavioral economics, and the role of behavioral economics in administrative agencies and regulation.   Unfortunately, the article really wasn’t about Nudging or behavioral-economics based regulation at all.  If Nudge is going to have its trial — it will be another day.

In the meantime, you can start here for some good background reading on the topic.

Filed under: behavioral economics, free to choose symposium, journalism, regulation

We’ve been reading with interest a bit of an blog squabble between Tim Wu and Adam Thierer ( see here and here) set off by Professor Wu’s WSJ column: “In the Grip of the New Monopolists.”  Wu’s column makes some remarkable claims, and, like Adam, we find it extremely troubling.

Read the full piece here.

Jonathan Adler and Orin Kerr chime in over at VC to make the point that MSNBC’s rules against contributions from television personalities is pointless, or perhaps counterproductive.  Here’s Adler…

Read the full piece here. 

A predatory pricing case in California under Section 17043 results in a $21 million fine awarded to one newspaper, the Bay Guardian, in a suit against a competitor, San Francisco Weekly (HT: Reason).  The suit alleged that the SF Weekly was selling advertising below cost for the purpose of harming a competitor.  A summary of the appellate decision (available here): No recoupment, no market power, no harm to competition, no problem.  One of the benefits of those requirements for predatory pricing claims under the Sherman Act is to minimize the use of litigation to subvert the competitive process.  No such luck under California law.  To get a sense of how different operation of 17043 from conventional federal antitrust analysis, consider the following excerpt from the opinion…

Read the full piece here. 

Michael Kimmelman at the NY Times. Luke Froeb beat me to the punch of this one and has already got a post up, but this is too good not to share. The article is on book sales and book culture in Germany, the latter of which is…

Read the full piece here.