Germany’s competition watchdog is reportedly investigating PayPal over possible obstruction of its competitors. The head of that country’s Federal Cartel Office says he is examining whether PayPal’s user terms harm customers or sellers, Bloomberg News reported Monday (Jan. 23). “We will now examine what market...
Amazon has reached a settlement in a pair of European antitrust probes against the retailer. The agreement, announced Tuesday (Dec. 19), includes a concession by Amazon to give third-party sellers more space on its site. “Today’s decision sets new rules for how Amazon operates its...
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is moving to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The agency said in a Thursday (Dec. 8) press release that the Xbox maker’s purchase of the video game developer’s franchises would harm competition in both gaming consoles and subscription services. ...
The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced on Tuesday (Nov. 22) that it is ramping up its antitrust investigation of Apple and Google after receiving “widespread support” for the move, first proposed in June. “Apple and Google have an effective duopoly on mobile ecosystems...
Meta Platforms says it will sell the GIF generator Giphy following an order from the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority Tuesday (Oct. 18). According to a CMA news release, the authority “has found that Meta’s takeover of Giphy could allow Meta to limit other social...
A bipartisan bill targeting Big Tech dominance passed the House of Representatives by a 242-184 vote on Thursday (Sept. 29) but in a scaled-down version from the original introduced in June 2021. The package of bills proposes to raise fees for antitrust reviews of the...
In what is said to be a departure from the agency’s tradition, the written testimony presented by the chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) before a Senate committee did not have bipartisan support among the commissioners. The testimony presented Tuesday (Sept. 20) by FTC...
The United Kingdom’s antitrust watchdog said Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of video game maker Activision Blizzard could hinder competition and warrants further investigation. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said in statement Thursday (Sept. 1), the deal — the largest ever for both gaming and...
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is reportedly readying an antitrust complaint against Apple, a potential sign that the government’s ongoing investigation of the tech giant is coming to a head. That’s according to a Friday (Aug. 26) report from Politico, which cited a “person...