ANTITRUST

ANTITRUST
Judge Tosses FTC Antitrust Complaint on Altria, JUUL
February 24, 2022

A federal administrative law judge, in a decision announced Thursday (Feb. 24), dismissed a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit that had accused tobacco giant Altria Group and electronic cigarette-maker JUUL Labs of violating antitrust laws. The government already has appealed the decision by Judge D. Michael...

ANTITRUST
Report: Microsoft, Google Allegedly Use Spam Ads to Chill Competition
February 18, 2022

Confidential data reviewed by POLITICO has revealed gatekeeper search engines are funneling low-value ads to smaller search partners. The report alleges Alphabet’s Google and Microsoft Corp. are using the online advertising market to the detriment of smaller rivals. The action threatens to establish a new...

ANTITRUST
US Chamber Aligns With Big Tech to Fight Antitrust Battles
February 16, 2022

Big Tech now has a big friend in Washington, D.C. with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — the biggest lobbying group in the country — taking up the latest antitrust threats coming out of the White House and Congress. Representing over 3 million businesses and...

ANTITRUST
Apple Fined Again in Dutch Dating App Case
February 14, 2022

Dutch antitrust regulators have levied a new 5 million euro ($5.6 million) fine against Apple over an order to open up app payments for dating services. The tech giant’s new payment terms for data apps are “unreasonable and create an additional barrier,” the Netherlands Authority...

ANTITRUST
Google Sues South Korea’s Regulator to Reverse Antitrust Fine
February 11, 2022

Google is asking a judge to reverse the fine it received last year from South Korea’s competition regulator after the tech giant tried to force the country’s phone makers to use its Android operating system, according to a report from Yonhap, a Korean news agency....

ANTITRUST
Antitrust Remedies in Digital Search Hinge on User Behavior 
February 11, 2022

In “Competition, Defaults, and Antitrust Remedies in Digital Search,” Francesco Decarolis and Muxin Li of Bocconi University explain how to enhance competition in digital markets by analyzing the recent changes to default search apps on Android devices as a result of the European Commission decision...

ANTITRUST
EU Regulator to Rule on Amazon’s MGM Deal by March 15
February 09, 2022

Antitrust regulators with the European Union plan to decide by March 15 whether they’ll clear Amazon’s proposed purchase of movie studio MGM, Reuters reported Tuesday (Feb. 8). The deal would allow the eCommerce giant to more readily compete with Netflix and Disney+, and would boost...

ANTITRUST
PriceRunner Hauls Google to Swedish Court Seeking $2.4B in Damages
February 07, 2022

Nordic price comparison firm PriceRunner is hauling Google to Sweden’s patent and market court seeking $2.4 billion in damages for violating antitrust laws by manipulating search. PriceRunner alleges that the company lost profits due to the Alphabet subsidiary’s anti-competitive behavior in the U.K. since 2008...

ANTITRUST
DOJ Seeks To Block Antitrust Mergers, But It is Easier Said Than Done 
January 25, 2022

The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Jonathan Kanter warned that the department will seek to block deals that are “likely to lessen competition” rather than pursuing complex settlements. The warning came in one of his first speeches as head of the DOJ antitrust division at the...