Blog o’ Blogs June 2014

Google’s European Antitrust Woes Are Far From Over

Mr. Almunia is trying to marshal support for an unpopular provisional deal by emphasizing to critics that new investigations await Google.

James Kanter (NY Times)

Intel v Commission and the problem with wrong economic assumptions

Contrary to what the Court holds, there are perfectly valid pro-competitive justifications for exclusive dealing and loyalty rebates.

Pablo Ibañez Colomo (Chillin’Competition)

Caretaking competition in health care markets

Making the case that antitrust enforcement is not a barrier to bona fide efforts to coordinate care in an effort to lower costs and improve patient outcomes as long as those efforts do not result in the accumulation of market power.

Debbie Feinstein (Competition Matters)

For Better Health Care Systems, States Should Take a Dose of Competition and Reject Antitrust Exemptions

State legislatures should resist the premise that health care competitors will somehow advance the “public interest” if they are freed from antitrust scrutiny and subjected to COPA regulation.

Alden Abbott (Truth on the Market)

The Second Circuit Adds Its Voice to the Debate Over the Application of the FTAIA to Extraterritorial Anticompetitive Conduct

Application of the FTAIA will often involve difficult questions, but hopefully in the near future the Supreme Court will at least instruct what the proper tests are.

Robert Connolly (Cartel Capers)

Trustbusters Targeting Cartels Abroad Reined in by U.S. Judges

The ruling opens the doors to foreign cartels to shield themselves from U.S. law by selling to a third party instead of directly into the U.S

David McLaughlin (Bloomberg)

On Privacy, Big Data and Competition Law

Should data protection considerations be incorporated to competition law’s substantive assessments?

Alfonso Lamadrid (Chillin’ Competition)

How is it exactly that cable companies in the US don’t compete?

Those who say Comcast and Time Warner should merge because they don’t compete should also explain precisely why they don’t now and ought not to compete in the future.

Joshua Gans (Digitopoly)

FCC Could Use Merger Concessions to Advance Policy Goals

AT&T’s deal and the possible bid for T-Mobile by Sprint could also offer a route to bringing net neutrality to wireless networks, which currently are exempted.

Ryan Knutson (Wall Street Journal)

Sometimes brick and mortar competition is enough

Tailoring the analysis of competitive effects to the facts is as important as proper tailoring of a suit.

Debbie Feinstein, Alexis Gilman, & Melissa Davenport (Competition Matters)

The Lanham Act and POM Wonderful LLC v. Coca Cola: A Cause of Action for Competitors

Perhaps the EU isn’t taking sufficient advantage of the “synergies among multiple methods of regulation.”

Jarod Bona (The Antitrust Attorney Blog)

How Book Publishers Can Beat Amazon

If you wish to understand what’s really happening between Amazon and Hachette-and, indeed, all the major book publishers-you need to know the meaning of the word monopsony.

Bob Kohn (NY Times)

If it Ain’t Broke, Fix It: Ireland’s Competition Law, Version 2014

And though planning was long and time for debate is now short, last minute changes (big ones too) continue.

Philip Andrews (McCann FitzGerald)