Last week, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) unveiled a proposal to “break up Big Tech.” Her proposal has been met with swift criticism from startup investors, experts, academics, and tech industry influencers saying that the proposal would: —Do more harm than good; —Stifle competition and set arbitrary thresholds; —Lead to increased prices; —And not solve the issues […]

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Last week, Sen. Warren unveiled a proposal to “break up Big Tech,” arguing businesses that didn’t exist 25 years ago “are among the most valuable and well-known companies in the world.” Experts from across the political spectrum, academia, and the tech industry weighed in on the damage the plan would cause to American consumers and […]

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Earlier today, Sen. Elizabeth Warren published a Medium post outlining a plan to “break up” the country’s most successful technology companies. A statement from CCIA president Ed Black is available here. When reading, it’s important to remember a few key facts: —Competition in the tech sector is thriving. —Venture capital deals for start-ups are at […]

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This morning, Morning Consult released a new poll finding 41 percent of respondents support a newly announced Federal Trade Commission Tech Task Force. The poll also found that respondents believe the tech industry holds less influence than Hollywood and Wall Street, offering the latest data point that illustrates public opinion of the tech sector. This […]

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At the Senate Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights hearing on concentration and competition in the U.S. economy yesterday, one thing was clear: Antitrust law is perfectly capable at completing the job it’s meant to do. Highlights from the subcommittee hearing below. Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Antitrust, […]

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This morning, ideas contributor for WIRED and author Antonio Garcia Martinez argued that the mantra “data is the new oil” is deceptively simple and does not accurately describe data’s worth to technology companies. More from Martinez and other leaders below: While data may be internally valuable, it isn’t a fungible commodity. “Sure, you could maybe […]

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Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Makan Delrahim’s latest speech answers questions raised by House Antitrust Chair Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) on whether or not antitrust law should be changed to cover the zero-cost services of tech platforms. Delrahim characterized critics’ proposals of “throwing out the long-standing consumer welfare standard and crafting new rules ” to […]

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In her latest for the Financial Times, Rana Foroohar argues that antitrust policy should move away from the consumer welfare standard toward a far broader definition. But as Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Makan Delrahim has pointed out, the consumer welfare standard is adaptable and flexible, and arguments around data ownership are not actually evidence […]

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A new op-ed from trade association News Media Alliance’s president and CEO David Chavern dismisses the contributions of leading tech services and argues publishers should form a cartel and extract rents by implementing controversial new regulations. In reality, though, leading tech services have taken great steps to empower publishers in the Internet Age, while the […]

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At State of the Net 2019 in Washington, D.C. yesterday, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Makan Delrahim expressed a different view to Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) and reminded critics of the strength of the consumer welfare standard and the need for caution in enforcement. Highlights from his fireside chat with Variety’s Ted Johnson, as well […]

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Earlier today, Richard Epstein published an extensive review of Tim Wu’s new book and overall antitrust framework, arguing Wu’s criticism of leading tech services “overstates the benefits and ignores the high costs of an aggressive application of the antitrust laws.” Epstein is the just the latest to rebut Wu’s arguments—Alec Stapp of the Niskanen Center […]

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Earlier today, Georgetown’s Larry Downes and the Brookings Institution’s Blair Levin published an op-ed in the Washington Post, asking if the recent tech backlash was “going askew.” Downes and Levin point out that critics of leading tech services propose only vague alternatives to the consumer welfare standard, and that the tech sector is in fact […]

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A new Crunchbase analysis finds venture investment in the tech sector continues to thrive. 2018 was a “year of superlatives,” with the most money invested in the highest number of private tech company financing events ever and the largest VC deals in history. As Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield noted in 2015, “It might be the best […]

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Yesterday, the Financial Times editorial board pointed to four areas of increased regulatory scrutiny of leading tech services: bias, privacy, intermediary liability, and antitrust. Below are key developments to help understand each issue. Additionally, it’s critical to remember that tech continues to buck trends that plague the broader economy, fueled by competition. Investment and R&D […]

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After the whirlwind of a festive December and the start of a new year, here are a few good reads on leading tech services, competition, and the economics behind firm concentration. More below. “How Much Is Social Media Worth? Estimating The Value Of Facebook By Paying Users To Stop Using It,” from economists Jay Corrigan, […]

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During a speech at Capitol Forum’s Fifth Annual Tech, Media & Telecom Competition Conference, Principal Deputy AAG Andrew Finch discussed antitrust markets and the vibrant new competition present in traditional industries. He rebuts tech critics’ misconceptions around concentration and tech, noting: 1. Industry concentration data that looks at industry-level census data does not reflect relevant […]

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This afternoon, the Senate Committee on the Judiciary will hold a hearing on the differences in antitrust enforcement between Europe and the United States. The American approach to antitrust has provided enormous benefits to consumers, small businesses, and large corporations alike. Regulators must not overlook the importance of the consumer welfare standard, protecting competition rather […]

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Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified before the House Judiciary Committee this morning, debunking the false claims of bias in search and outlining Google’s role as a online platform. Below are excerpts from commentary surrounding the hearing: —Arguments that Google is biased against conservatives were roundly criticized by tech policy experts, advocacy organizations, and journalists —There […]

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This morning, Google CEO Sundar Pichai will tell members of the House Judiciary Committee, “I lead this company without political bias and work to ensure that our products continue to operate that way. To do otherwise would go against our core principles and our business interests.” Ahead of Pichai’s hearing, consider these key facts in […]

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In his latest, Jason Furman notes that there’s no one way to interpret increases in concentration, writing, “Concentration has increased for good reasons and for bad reasons.” Only by analyzing other trends in the economy and within individual sectors is it clear if increased concentration is beneficial or harmful for particular industries. Happily, many of […]

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New polling released today by CCIA’s Springboard Initiative shows that confidence in leading tech services remains high since the last poll in May 2018. These surveys contextualized consumers’ views on the tech sector, measuring consumer perceptions of seven industries (including media, hospitals, airlines, utilities, and pharmaceuticals) and the government. According to respondents, concern about over-regulation […]

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Harvard Business Review editor Walter Frick and Boston University economist James Bessen’s new piece breaks down the conversation around competition and firm size by going beyond antitrust. Critics who tie the growth of leading tech services to monopolistic behavior are missing a key aspect of what makes some firms more competitive than others: Software. Highlights […]

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Earlier this week, the Open Markets Institute (OMI) released a data set illustrating concentration by industry, and David Leonhardt highlighted it in the New York Times‘ opinion section. While the data itself isn’t anything new – concentration in some sectors has been rising for decades and is not always inherently anti-competitive – the way Open […]

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Recent pieces from The Economist on competition and the tech industry all but ignore competition, the expansive definition of the consumer welfare standard, and the importance of the U.S. due process system. In particular, in rating the level of competition among larger firms, The Economist gives Apple a “green light” and Google and Facebook a […]

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In a recent Wired piece, Tim Wu ignores economic and market realities in his call for regulation of leading tech services. Wu overlooks that the vibrancy of the tech industry is driven by the ongoing success of start-ups, relying on nostalgia instead of facts about the highly competitive modern technology market. Some research dispelling Wu’s […]

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This week, the FTC held its sixth in a series of hearings about competition policy in the 21st century. Below are a few highlights from some leading experts in the field. Data is a widely available resource, not a commodity Daniel Sokol, University of Florida Levin College of Law: “Big data: There’s no one company […]

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In a recent piece in Scientific American, economist Joseph Stiglitz writes that weak antitrust laws underpin the rise of inequality, arguing, “Their enforcement has weakened—at a time when, if anything, the laws themselves should have been strengthened.” Concentration has modestly increased across all industries measured at the national level. Yet, companies are increasingly competing in […]

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As FTC hearings on competitiveness and consumer welfare continue this week, wanted to flag the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) new paper by senior fellow Joe Kennedy, titled, “Why The Consumer Welfare Standard Should Remain The Bedrock Of Antitrust Policy.” Kennedy’s core arguments are below. Contrary to critics, the consumer welfare standard goes well […]

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On Wednesday, Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim spoke at the University of Haifa in Israel, saying “big platforms were once themselves start-ups,” and that regulators should “be cautious in any enforcement decision to not undermine the very innovation incentives that competition aims to protect.” Delrahim focused parts of his speech on data, raising numerous points […]

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In case you missed the latest FTC hearings on competition and consumer welfare, we’ve amassed the 7 best highlights from experts. Quotes are below with the video linked. 1. Josh Wright, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School: Compared to the E.U., the U.S. relies on empirical evidence of actual harm, not suspicion over potential harm. […]

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Earlier today, several Roosevelt Institute scholars published a piece in Quartz arguing the USMCA, President Trump’s NAFTA replacement, should not have included the consumer welfare standard among its provisions because it is unequipped to deal with what the authors deem concentration problems. But not only does the tech sector not face many of the problems the authors […]

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Below are highlights from the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights hearing with Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Makan Delrahim and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joe Simons. Videos are hyperlinked with the quote. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Chairman of Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights: “These critics are […]

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On October 3, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights will hold its hearing on “Oversight of the Enforcement of the Antitrust Laws” with DOJ Antitrust Division Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim and FTC Chairman Joseph Simons. This hearing comes on the heels of new polling that indicates Republicans overwhelmingly […]

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Ahead of tomorrow’s gathering of state attorneys general by Jeff Sessions and the Department of Justice, we gathered expert responses to the meeting and the proposed topic of leading tech services and free speech. The big takeaways: —When threats to legal free speech are disguised as competition concerns, government efforts can appear overtly political, setting […]

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Earlier today at the Constitution Center, the Federal Trade Commission held the second hearing in its Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century series. Competition policy experts from across both the country and the political spectrum convened in Washington, D.C. to discuss the current state of antitrust law. Highlights below. It’s important to remember […]

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Earlier today, the FTC held its first in a series of Hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century at the Georgetown University Law Center. Leaders in competition policy from across the political spectrum convened to discuss how the FTC can continue to best protect consumers. Highlights below. Don’t punish a firm just […]

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This week, the Federal Trade Commission kicks off a series of hearings on competition in the 21st century economy with a look at the consumer welfare standard in antitrust. We’ve gathered the facts most critical to the conversation, as noted by the antitrust experts who will be on the panel discussions. Key items to keep […]

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Ahead of today’s hearings that will cover tech platforms and political voice, it’s essential to note that plenty of social media, text, and voice applications exist, and consumers use multiple to communicate on a daily basis. They get news from a variety of on-and-offline sources. Choice and competition are hallmarks of the tech sector, with […]

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Tim Wu wants to break up Facebook and other leading tech services, because “we’re in a time where we need to bring back the controls on bigness,” according to a recent Vergecast, summarized here. Wu’s case overlooks several critical issues. 1. Wu downplays existing competition among tech players (despite having hailed it as a solution […]

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At Jackson Hole, economists discussed the rise of economy-wide corporate concentration and its impact on the macroeconomy, including investment, wage, and monetary policy. Tech critics have worked to connect this trend to tech, but  – as we’ve noted before – tech bucks the trends seen in other sectors of the economy. In fact, regarding investment, […]

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In his letter today to FTC Chairman Joseph Simons, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) asked the FTC to look into Google’s search practices. However, the facts haven’t changed since the FTC closed a comprehensive antitrust investigation in 2013. —The FTC found Google’s search practices were pro-consumer, and today search is even more competitive, see our backgrounder […]

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A number of public comments have been filed ahead of the FTC’s hearings on competition and consumer protection in the 21st century. With topics ranging from antitrust and consumer protection law and enforcement to AI and predictive analysis, leading tech experts filed comments to defend the consumer welfare standard. Major focuses of the comments include: […]

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Today, central bankers convening in Jackson Hole for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s annual symposium will discuss the impact of rising concentration on the economy, specifically macroeconomic impacts and business investment. Two key points (and a few good reads) to keep in mind as you follow the conversation — 1. Tech companies lead […]

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Last week former Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post arguing that Europe’s antitrust regime is “stronger” than America’s. But, as Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim recently said, “I don’t measure the antitrust division’s success by the fines or convictions we get or how many cases in litigation we bring. […]

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In the wake of Apple’s recent valuation as a $1 trillion company, we continue to see a number of mistakes in competition analysis. Below are three oft-repeated claims that miss the mark with further details below. 1. Yes, economy-wide, wages and business investment have been stagnant, but not in tech where wages are rising and […]

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Since the European Commission’s decision to fine Android, policymakers, experts, and columnists from both sides of the aisle, along with the entire ecosystem of the mobile economy, have sounded the alarm over the EC’s decision. They have warned: —Consumers will be harmed by the EC’s decision; —The EC’s decision ignored the fact that Android competes […]

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Now a few weeks removed from the European Commission’s (EC) “bizarre” Android decision, experts have continued to weigh in. As James Stewart wrote in the New York Times, “It’s hard to find any antitrust expert, European or American, who has endorsed the logic or outcome of the ruling by the European Commission.” The EC’s conclusion […]

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Yesterday, Luigi Zingales defended the EC’s fine of Google’s Android arguing the absence of similar enforcement have raised cell phone costs for consumers. Below are three issues with Zingales’ defense, but more broadly Zingales fails to mention 1) Android is free and operators were always able to pre-install competing apps and 2) the U.S. tech […]

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Tech critics have called for increased data portability to boost competition. Before the weekend, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and others announced a new standards initiative called the Data Transfer Project to do exactly that, noting, “Portability and interoperability are central to cloud innovation and competition.” The initiative will allow consumers to transfer data directly between […]

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In response to Wednesday’s wrong-headed Android fine, more voices picked apart the flaws in EU Commissioner Margrethe Vestager’s arguments. Vestager’s decision was “protectionism masquerading as consumerism,” per AEI’s Jim Pethokoukis. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden argued, “the EC’s attack on Google is another strike against its credibility as a regulator.” The Bloomberg editorial board summarized it […]

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In reaction to the European Commission’s Android decision, a chorus of people sounded the alarm, highlighting the choice, competition, and innovation Android has brought to the market and the negative impacts this decision will have on phone makers, developers, and consumers. It’s also important to remember the FTC conducted a multi-year investigation into these allegations, […]

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The EC is expected to fine Google’s Android, a free and open software. As NYT’s Farhad Manjoo wrote in 2016, “If Google’s grand plan really is to keep rivals off Android phones, it sure is doing a poor job of it.” The EC’s analysis curiously concludes Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS are not competitors. What’s […]

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A new report from Oliver Wyman, commissioned by Facebook, finds that, despite the hype, venture investment in the tech sector is vibrant and leading tech services’ success does not, in fact, lead to the mythical “kill-zone” in startup investment. Finding that total VC deal value has reached all-time highs and that acquisitions by large firms […]

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With the hustle and bustle of the midweek Fourth of July, here are a few good reads on tech, competition, and antitrust policy that you might’ve missed during the past couple of weeks. Herbert Hovenkamp, “Is Antitrust’s Consumer Welfare Principle Imperiled?“ Key Takeaway: “The neo-Brandeis approach would trade off low prices and high output in […]

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In a recent paper, former FTC chair Timothy J. Muris and former FTC general counsel Jonathan Nuechterlein analyzed tech critics’ arguments against leading tech services within the context of backlash against the leading grocery chain A&P eighty years ago. After vertically integrating, the grocery store chain was once called the “Wal-Mart before Wal-Mart.” Muris and […]

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In response to a recent Boston Globe editorial, Computer & Communications Industry Association president and CEO Ed Black pushed back against tech critics who call for break-up without pointing to concrete consumer harms. “Simply put,” writes Black, “companies like Google succeed because they provide high-quality products and services that consumers value. Regulators shouldn’t punish this, […]

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Last Friday, MLex reported Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim said, “I don’t measure the antitrust division’s success by the fines or convictions we get or how many cases in litigation we bring. I define US antitrust law’s success as the fact that we have these innovators. We have the Googles and the Facebooks and the […]

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Last week, Martin Giles published a piece in the MIT Technology Review, “It’s Time To Rein In The Data Barons.” In making his case, Giles fails to note that consumers would have be paid $17,500 a year to give up search, $8,400 a year for maps, and more than $3,600 a year for social media. […]

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As noted by the Wall Street Journal’s Alexandra Bruell in “AT&T’s Ambitious Plan To Take On Facebook And Google For Ad Dollars,” AT&T will become a major force in the advertising sector, having the ability to sell more targeted advertisements alongside video content. Bruell explains that AT&T could show “a young family in New Jersey […]

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Public Not Pushing For More Regulation Washington, D.C., June 13, 2018 — Today, CCIA’s Springboard Initiative released the results of a survey commissioned in May that sought to better understand Americans’ relationship with tech services. Unlike other polls on tech, this survey contextualizes views about tech with that of eight other industries, including hospitals, finance, […]

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On Friday, AEI scholar Dr. Mark Jamison asked, “When did making customers happy become a reason for regulation or breakup?” A response to Christopher Mims’ Wall Street Journal column from earlier, Jamison argued tech is defined by consumer choice and said, “Whether this freedom of choice results in market share growth or market share declines, […]

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The latest issue of The Economist features an article that blames America’s leading tech services for allegedly quashing tech start-ups. The piece misses the mark in five key ways: 1. Investment in the sector is at a 20-year high, driving 57 startups to unicorn status last year — but only one in Europe. A World […]

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This week, Kleiner Perkins’ Mary Meeker released her annual Internet Trends presentation, which stands in stark contrast to much of the tech discussion in Washington and among self-interested VCs. The 295-slide deck delves into a number of topics, but can best be summarized by slide 43: Robust R&D and industry investment, lower consumer prices, dynamic […]

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Last week, tech analyst and author of the Stratechery newsletter Ben Thompson responded to 60 Minutes’ report on Google and competition policy. Thompson’s piece pointed out not only the various biases of the segment, but the incoherence of Yelp’s chief argument against Google as well. Some key takeaways are below. As Thompson notes, 60 Minutes’ […]

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On the heels of 60 Minutes’ one-sided segment on competition in the tech sector, DOJ Antitrust Division leader Makan Delrahim noted, “The goal of the antitrust laws is to protect competition, not competitors.” A few highlights from his speech: “I don’t endorse that view,” said Delrahim on critics’ assertions that antitrust is unequipped to address […]

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This week, tech critics launched a six-figure ad campaign against Facebook’s supposed monopoly.  The Open Markets Institute, who has previously called for the break up of various other successful firms, announced their campaign by purchasing ads on competitors to Facebook’s “monopoly,” which Axios has noted are “running on Facebook and Instagram, as well as Twitter […]

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“The ’60 Minutes’ report is largely a rehash of familiar complaints against Google from longstanding opponents. As ’60 Minutes’ reminded viewers: ‘Most people love Google.’ In the U.S., successful antitrust action depends on proving harm to consumers — and that’s been challenging with Google.” That’s from Axios’ Scott Rosenberg. Below are a few things 60 […]

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This evening, 60 Minutes will air a segment focusing on Google’s critics, who say the company has “stifled competition,” and Europe’s Margrethe Vestager, an “antitrust enforcer who is taking action.” We’ve seen others recycle old arguments pushed by competitors of leading tech services in the past. So before you watch, below are five things you […]

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This week, National Review published an opinion piece that attempted to make a “conservative case” for government breaking up leading tech services. It’s important to note, however, that asking for heavy-handed government intervention is far from the conservative mainstream. There are an abundance of thinkers and experts on the right and also the left, who […]

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Tech critics have repeatedly pointed to “network effects” as one reason to rethink antitrust enforcement. However, in her latest for the American Bar Association’s quarterly journal Antitrust, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and antitrust expert Catherine Tucker explains that network effects “are not the guarantor of market dominance that antitrust analysts had initially feared” — […]

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Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division Roger Alford spoke in Dusseldorf Tuesday on the public interest standard’s problematic effect on competition enforcement. Like Makan Delrahim, Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division, recently noted, Alford focused on the careful approach of the consumer welfare standard versus the broad, easily-biased public […]

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Daniel Crane, a University of Michigan law professor who focuses and has written six books and more than 60 articles on antitrust policy, recently posed four key questions to those who don’t believe current antitrust law is capable of addressing any competition concerns in the 21st century economy, the so-called Neo-Brandeisians. Highlights below: 1. Is […]

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As Mark Jamison noted recently for AEI, “China is seeking to create national champions in tech. Europe is hoping that its regulations will ensure that the next generation of tech leaders is European.” Ahead of the White House AI meeting, below is recent commentary on the U.S. tech strategy in the context of Europe and […]

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International Center for Law & Economics Executive Director Geoff Manne recently published a detailed look at serial antitrust complainant Foundem, and found their claims of so-called harm critically flawed. Beyond their pleadings for government intervention in competition, the founders of Foundem currently run an anti-Google consultancy, and “this consulting work, some of which was funded […]

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On Monday, Pew released a new survey from January 2018 that finds 88 percent of online U.S. adults feel the internet has mostly been a good thing personally, while 70 percent find the internet has been a good thing for society. Most mentioned increased access to information thanks to the internet, while others mentioned the […]

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Speaking in a personal capacity at CCIA’s luncheon panel discussion held during the ABA Antitrust Spring Meetings, Bruce Hoffman, Acting Director of the Bureau of Competition at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), argued current U.S. antitrust law is “the result of decades of experience in the United States with failed standards, such as protecting […]

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As D.C. tech critics propose hypothetical regulations left and right, experts are breaking through the noise to make sure policymakers know the full scope of these regulations’ implications. In particular, economists with focuses ranging from law to technology are reiterating that any regulation needs to be smart, address proven consumer harms, and avoid the collateral […]

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Yesterday, in his keynote speech for the Stigler Center’s Antitrust And Competition Conference, Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division Makan Delrahim said, “Based on my collective experiences over the past 25 years, I believe the antitrust consensus approach is flexible to new business models in digital markets, and that there is no persuasive evidence […]

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A new poll from The Wall Street Journal and NBC finds Americans have “only a limited appetite for new government oversight” of leading tech services. Consistent with polls run in the past, WSJ/NBC find 51 percent of Americans said there was either too much or just the right amount of tech industry regulation right now. […]

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As the American Bar Association convenes its 66th Antitrust Law Spring Meeting in D.C., discussions around antitrust’s potential applicability to the tech sector are at the forefront of the agenda. In particular, the contributions of and competition within the digital economy, whether “big is bad” when it comes to firm size and competition, and consumer […]

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Driving rushed calls for new tech regulations or antitrust action is the misperception that consumers must place faith in individual businesses to make changes on their own. In fact, it is market forces that compel technology services to respond to consumer dissatisfaction.  More than any other sector, the risk of losing users to the competition […]

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Yesterday, Greg Ip published a piece in The Wall Street Journal outlining the impacts of public scrutiny on innovation and the industry. It can be “good, bad or downright ugly for technological progress,” he says, outlining the nuance between different types of backlash. After all, as he points out, not all tech can just be […]

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Looking to capitalize on recent news coverage trends, several representatives of large telecommunications companies are dredging up debunked and outdated arguments against leading tech services in an effort to insulate their own industry from competition. It’s clear why big telecoms companies harbor disdain for leading tech services – the over-the-top (OTT) model of content distribution […]

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With increased chatter in recent weeks from critics saying that now is the time for more radical regulation of the tech sector, including breaking up leading tech services and abandoning the consumer welfare standard, it’s important to keep in mind the actual facts of the tech sector and how any new regulations would impact competition. […]

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In case you missed it, the Roosevelt Institute released a report examining why some Americans feel “powerless,” which the report ascribes to concentration, particularly within the tech sector. Certainly, economic helplessness and empowerment are issues that deserve urgent solutions; unfortunately, the Roosevelt Institute’s framing – that anti-competitive behavior by leading tech services has led to […]

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Yesterday, in Harvard Business Review, former antitrust counsel for Microsoft Maurice Stucke argues for a new approach to antitrust enforcement regarding America’s leading tech services because they are allegedly “monopolizing” data. Stucke’s demand for a vague “big is bad” antitrust mentality won’t support innovation or lower prices. Moreover, he erred in five critical ways. 1. […]

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As legal proceedings begin in the U.S. Justice Department’s case against the proposed AT&T-Time Warner merger, cries of “duopoly” against leading tech services continue to be raised despite clear examples of competitors repeatedly building innovative products and partnerships to expand their advertising reach. An Analysys Mason report notes: “Ultimately, online and TV players are experimenting […]

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In its latest forecast, research company eMarketer has predicted that leading tech services’ shares of the digital advertising space will decline this year for the first time, while overall digital ad spending in the country will grow. Leading tech services have an even smaller share of the global advertising market (of which digital isn’t even […]

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On Friday, former FTC Policy Director David Balto and CCIA Outside Counsel Matthew Lane addressed calls to break up America’s leading tech services in The Hill, writing, “This is no time to throw out the consumer welfare standard and introduce chaos into our antitrust enforcement regime. That would have the immediate effect of weakening enforcement […]

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Yesterday, in Harvard Business Review, Brookings Institution Senior Fellow David Wessel provided four “warning signs” to guide policy discussions on industry concentration trends. Concerns of economic concentration reflect real challenges in our economy, but the tech sector is bucking the trend: 1. Business dynamism: The tech sector is growing faster than GDP with new companies and […]

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Speaking with Recode’s Kara Swisher this morning on leading tech services, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) argued the world is better off with them. When asked about growing tech companies, Sen. Schumer noted, “Yes, they’re big. But big can do good things as well as bad things. And you gotta separate the wheat from […]

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Yesterday in The Atlantic, Robert Atkinson and Michael Lind wrote, “The anti-monopoly school identifies many genuine problems, ranging from low wages to the massive influence of money in politics. But the solution to low wages is not to break up big, productive firms that pay higher wages. Public policy should encourage start-ups that have the […]

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Today, Representative David Cicilline (D-RI) introduced a bill exempting news publishers from antitrust enforcement, allowing them to form a cartel over content distribution. In response, Computer & Communications Industry Association President & CEO Ed Black said:  “Curtailing antitrust laws to allow competitors to collude would be harmful to consumers. Dynamic, innovative, and competitive companies can […]

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Last Friday, Bloomberg Quint’s profile of News Corp CEO Robert Thomson highlighted the campaign against America’s leading tech companies by a company that also competes with them. News Corp’s new platform, News IQ, was launched last year and boasts an audience of over 140 million. We’ve said tongue-in-cheek that the tech competition policy debate often […]

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Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed by its trade association, the News Media Alliance (NMA), offering an erroneous critique of America’s leading tech services to justify U.S. policymakers giving newspaper publishers permission to form a cartel. Antitrust exemptions are rarely granted because consumers lose when competitors collude. More importantly, the reason for the […]

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In today’s Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation FTC nomination hearing, Mr. Joseph Simons argued, “Big is not necessarily bad. I also believe big is not necessarily good.” He added, “Oftentimes companies get big because they are successful with the consumer. They offer good service at low price and that’s a good thing and […]

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Economist and managing editor of the Journal of Economic Perspectives Timothy Taylor argued, “It’s not enough to rave against the size of Big Tech” and, in the context of calls for antitrust action, pointed out that “while it’s easy to sketch in the air an argument about network effects, the question of how network effects […]

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In the latest issue of Esquire, NYU marketing professor Scott Galloway offers his latest salvo on leading tech services. But in the Harvard Business Review, Georgetown’s renowned Internet industry analyst Larry Downes’ writes “How More Regulation for U.S. Tech Could Backfire.” Downes highlights how the best regulator of technology is “simply more technology.” Taken together, […]

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The online publishers’ association Digital Content Next “Distributed Content Revenue Benchmark” report paints a skewed image of the value leading tech services provide to publishers by misrepresenting that Google and Facebook pay just 5 percent of revenues to DCN members. Four issues stand out most, including two misleading headline statistics. First, there is a lot of […]

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Yesterday in The Intercept, in reference to America’s leading technology services, columnist David Dayen advocated for “breaking the companies up and/or turning them into public utilities,” and argued the FTC is refusing to take action after overruling its economists in the past. Dayen is wrong on both counts. First, not only does Dayen ignore low […]

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On Liz Claman’s “Countdown To The Closing Bell,” (1/30/18) marketing professor Scott Galloway, reacting to stock price movements, argued, “The reason why I think they [leading American technology services] need to be curbed, or specifically broken up, is that, as evidenced today, we don’t have fair competition, the markets are no longer that competitive. When […]

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The Word Economic Forum in Davos — or as Vox’s Zeeshan Aleem called it “the ultimate club for establishment elites” — is sometimes mocked for being out of touch with reality. America’s leading tech services were a focus of attacks from some of the Davos elite, with some investors and executives calling criticizing tech companies […]

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