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Blog o’ Blogs July 2014

By  |  July 21, 2014
It’s a surprisingly meaty month, given it’s Summer (for most of us). A number of agencies are looking at major reforms, including the EU on mergers and the FCC on net neutrality. There’s lots more, especially from Europe, where we even take a look at how Scottish independence might affect competition law. Stay cool.
Motorola Mobility and the FTAIA: A Deterrence-Based Definition of “Direct” Effect
What is lacking is a guiding principle for determining whether an effect is direct.
Joseph Harrington (Competition Academia)
Of Politics and Competition Law Commission (and on the Google Cases too)
Competition law can better serve its goals when dissociated from small politics.
Alfonso Lamadrid (Chillin’Competition)
The Need to Reform the Antitrust Sentencing Guidelines for Individuals
The main defect in the current guidelines is that the primary driver of an individuals’ sentence is the volume of commerce of the conspiracy.
Robert Connolly (Cartel Capers)
Putting the “Mod” in Order Modification
A lot has changed since 1998, especially in the world of toy retailing.
Kenneth Libby (FTC’s Competition Matters)
5 Main Themes Emerge in Net Neutrality Debate
With almost 800,000 comments and counting, the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality proposal is well on its way to becoming the most commented-on item in the history of the agency.
Gautham Nagesh (WSJ Washington Wire)
Substantial Reform of EU Merger Control on the Cards
The proposed reform of the system is the most significant in the last 10 years and could have an impact on many corporate transactions.
Mark Jones (AntitrustConnect Blog)
Cablevision v. Viacom and the Sad State of Tying Doctrine
The law on tying remains an embarrassment.
Thom Lambert (Truth on the Market)
Dogma in telecoms, cream for the CAT: 08- numbers in the Supreme Court
The orthodox view now requires considerable adjustment.
Tom Richards (Competition Bulletin)
What Does the Supreme Court’s Decision in Halliburton Co. v. Erica P. John Fund, Inc. Mean for Antitrust Law?
Because of the nature of the Sherman Act, the Supreme Court is much more willing to change its precedents to conform to prevailing views of economics and experience than it is for other federal statutes.
Jarod Bona (The Antitrust Attorney Blog)
Competition Policy and Scottish Independence
Initiatives aimed at engaging the devolved nations should also extend to regions of England where the CMA in London feels equally distant.
Andreas Stephan (Competition Policy Blog)
Antitrust Enforcers’ Stealth Undermining of Patent Rights—Shedding Light on a Recent and Troubling Phenomenon
This represents a change in emphasis away from restraints on competition among purveyors of rival patented technologies and toward the alleged “exploitation” of a patentee’s particular patented technology.
Alden Abbott (Truth on the Market)
Regulating for fairness as well as competition
In substance, the law may dispense with fairness in the interests of efficiency (and ultimately in the interests of the consumer welfare that efficiency delivers).
Caron Beaton Wells (Competition Academia)
The English law of causation and the passing-on defence
There is no obvious dividing line between causing an increase in prices and providing the occasion or context for such an increase. 
Tristan Jones (Competition Bulletin)
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Scottish Independence