ICYMI: The consumer welfare standard – a bipartisan consensus for 40 years – should continue to guide federal antitrust policy https://t.co/OOYAXLYEra
Leading tech services drive down prices and constantly offer new and improved products. Individual consumers & entrepreneurs have been the greatest beneficiaries of this trend, per @McKinsey_MGI https://t.co/Ax26hRMAur
Few industries have lower barriers to entry and switching costs than our technology sector. The U.S. must remain at the forefront of competition and innovation. https://t.co/hLK8RqpCyO
ICYMI: DOJ Antitrust Division AAG Makan Delrahim – “Protect Competition, Not Competitors”
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 […]
Read More
Setting The Record Straight: Anti-Facebook Campaign Is “Misguided Political Fervor That Ignores The Economic Facts”
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 […]
Read More
Setting The Record Straight: 60 Minutes’ Rehash Of Google Critics Misses The Mark
“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 […]
Read More
BEFORE YOU WATCH: Five Facts Ahead Of Tonight’s 60 Minutes Segment On Tech & Competition Policy
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 […]
Read More
What They’re Saying: Conservative Thinkers Support Existing Antitrust Doctrine
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: MIT Antitrust Expert Catherine Tucker – Network Effects Are No Guarantor Of Market Dominance For Digital Platforms
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” — […]
Read More
ICYMI: Roger Alford: The Consumer Welfare Standard Is A Scalpel, The Public Interest Standard A Sledgehammer
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Four Questions For The Neo-Brandeisian Tech Critics
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 […]
Read More
What They’re Are Saying: Over-Regulation Of Firms Will Hurt U.S. Competitiveness
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: ICLE’s Manne Takes On The Flaws In Foundem’s Cries For Competitive Intervention
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Yet Another Poll Shows Americans Believe Internet Has Been Good For Them Personally & For Society
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: FTC’s Hoffman Warns Overzealous Antitrust Action Could Harm Startups
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 […]
Read More
What They’re Saying: Hasty Tech Regulations Pose Risks To Consumers, Competition, And Prosperity
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Delrahim Argues Critics Have Failed To Make Evidence-Based Case For New Antitrust Approach
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: WSJ/NBC Poll Finds Most Americans Oppose More Regulation Of Tech Services
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. […]
Read More
What They Are Saying: Experts Say Consumer Welfare Standard Should Continue To Guide Antitrust Policy
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 […]
Read More
STRS: Tech Market Creates Unique Pressure For Services To Respond To User Demands
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Greg Ip Breaks Down The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly Of Attacks On Tech
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 […]
Read More
Setting The Record Straight: Big Telecoms’ Attack On Leading Tech Services Is Self-Serving
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 […]
Read More
WTAS: Any Tech Sector Regulation Should Be Based On The Facts
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. […]
Read More
STRS: Roosevelt Institute Report Misses The Mark On Tech’s Importance To Economic Growth
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 […]
Read More
Setting The Record Straight: Another Tech Break-Up Call Gets It Wrong
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. […]
Read More
Converging Competition: Changes In TV & Online Advertising Drive Consumer Benefits
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Competition Takes A Bite Out Of America’s Leading Tech Services’ Share Of Growing Digital Advertising Pie
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Former FTC Policy Director Sets Record Straight On DC Tech Critics’ Antitrust Movement – All Action, No Plan
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: David Wessel Lays Out Economic Scoreboard – And Tech Does Well
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Highlights The Benefits Robust Competition Between Leading Tech Services Provides
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Atkinson And Lind Highlight Economic Benefits Of Large Firms
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 […]
Read More
STATEMENT: New Publisher Cartel Will Hurt Consumers
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Campaign To Regulate Leading Tech Services Is Driven By Competitors, Not Consumers
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 […]
Read More
Setting The Record Straight: News Media Alliance’s Request To Be A Cartel Ignores The Facts
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 […]
Read More
FTC Hearing Highlights: Big Is Not Bad, Disruptive Competition In Tech, And The Strength Of Current Antitrust Laws
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Economist Timothy Taylor: “It’s Not Enough To Rave Against The Size Of Big Tech”
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Larry Downes Takes On Scott Galloway’s Flawed Calls To Break Up Leading Tech Services
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, […]
Read More
Setting The Record Straight: DCN Report Fails To Capture The Value Tech Companies Provide Publishers
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 […]
Read More
Setting The Record Straight: The Intercept Misses The Mark On Basics Of Tech Industry
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 […]
Read More
Setting The Record Straight: Consumer Impacts, Not Stock Market Movements, Should Drive Competition Policy
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 […]
Read More
The Davos Disconnect: Out Of Touch With Americans & The World?
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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Makan Delrahim, AAG for Antitrust at @TheJusticeDept: “The goal of the antitrust laws is to protect competition, not competitors.” https://t.co/MlAJJLRVOT
The neo-Brandeisian tech critics often contradict themselves and try to have it both ways. @DanielDanCrane did a good job pointing these hypocrisies. https://t.co/Z1srHbGSlA https://t.co/kfoj9HbWVc
As @joldmcginn notes, antitrust jurisprudence is “one of the greatest achievements of the forces for liberty.” https://t.co/zLeyfLrxSp
When it comes to antitrust, @JimPethokoukis argues the willingness of some thinkers to abandon the consumer welfare standard is “stunning.” https://t.co/zLeyfL9WtP
ICYMI: @TheJusticeDept Antitrust Division AAG Makan Delrahim argued this week that the consumer welfare standard is “flexible to new business models generally and digital media markets, in particular.” https://t.co/MlAJJLRVOT
As @drj_policy has pointed out, “Successful tech companies become large because customers choose them.” Calls for break-up, like from telco talking head @SCleland, ignore consumer preferences. https://t.co/xYrbYrRdlY https://t.co/jupbEO7uFk
Leading tech services engage in holistic competition across a variety of industries – each fearful of “being disrupted or displaced by new technologies.” @JimPethokoukis https://t.co/JZ5XwMGcZJ
The history of digital services is rich of examples where “a simple insight into customer needs allowed entry into markets where incumbents already had access to big data.” @ce_tucker @anja_lambrecht https://t.co/vezXXJLSrT
Streaming services are not just producing new content — “they’re also salvaging old ones.” A variety of actors in the digital content space have created “a glut of choices” https://t.co/zGZcOsRuy0
“The goal of antitrust laws is to protect competition, not competitors,” said @TheJusticeDept Antitrust Division leader Makan Delrahim. Catch the highlights: https://t.co/f9GZ4djlUW
ICYMI: The consumer welfare standard – a bipartisan consensus for 40 years – should continue to guide federal antitrust policy https://t.co/OOYAXLYEra
Leading tech services drive down prices and constantly offer new and improved products. Individual consumers & entrepreneurs have been the greatest beneficiaries of this trend, per @McKinsey_MGI https://t.co/Ax26hRMAur
Few industries have lower barriers to entry and switching costs than our technology sector. The U.S. must remain at the forefront of competition and innovation. https://t.co/hLK8RqpCyO
ICYMI: DOJ Antitrust Division AAG Makan Delrahim – “Protect Competition, Not Competitors”
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 […]
Read More
Setting The Record Straight: Anti-Facebook Campaign Is “Misguided Political Fervor That Ignores The Economic Facts”
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 […]
Read More
Setting The Record Straight: 60 Minutes’ Rehash Of Google Critics Misses The Mark
“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 […]
Read More
BEFORE YOU WATCH: Five Facts Ahead Of Tonight’s 60 Minutes Segment On Tech & Competition Policy
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 […]
Read More
What They’re Saying: Conservative Thinkers Support Existing Antitrust Doctrine
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: MIT Antitrust Expert Catherine Tucker – Network Effects Are No Guarantor Of Market Dominance For Digital Platforms
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” — […]
Read More
ICYMI: Roger Alford: The Consumer Welfare Standard Is A Scalpel, The Public Interest Standard A Sledgehammer
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Four Questions For The Neo-Brandeisian Tech Critics
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 […]
Read More
What They’re Are Saying: Over-Regulation Of Firms Will Hurt U.S. Competitiveness
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: ICLE’s Manne Takes On The Flaws In Foundem’s Cries For Competitive Intervention
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Yet Another Poll Shows Americans Believe Internet Has Been Good For Them Personally & For Society
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: FTC’s Hoffman Warns Overzealous Antitrust Action Could Harm Startups
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 […]
Read More
What They’re Saying: Hasty Tech Regulations Pose Risks To Consumers, Competition, And Prosperity
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Delrahim Argues Critics Have Failed To Make Evidence-Based Case For New Antitrust Approach
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: WSJ/NBC Poll Finds Most Americans Oppose More Regulation Of Tech Services
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. […]
Read More
What They Are Saying: Experts Say Consumer Welfare Standard Should Continue To Guide Antitrust Policy
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 […]
Read More
STRS: Tech Market Creates Unique Pressure For Services To Respond To User Demands
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Greg Ip Breaks Down The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly Of Attacks On Tech
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 […]
Read More
Setting The Record Straight: Big Telecoms’ Attack On Leading Tech Services Is Self-Serving
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 […]
Read More
WTAS: Any Tech Sector Regulation Should Be Based On The Facts
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. […]
Read More
STRS: Roosevelt Institute Report Misses The Mark On Tech’s Importance To Economic Growth
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 […]
Read More
Setting The Record Straight: Another Tech Break-Up Call Gets It Wrong
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. […]
Read More
Converging Competition: Changes In TV & Online Advertising Drive Consumer Benefits
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Competition Takes A Bite Out Of America’s Leading Tech Services’ Share Of Growing Digital Advertising Pie
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Former FTC Policy Director Sets Record Straight On DC Tech Critics’ Antitrust Movement – All Action, No Plan
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: David Wessel Lays Out Economic Scoreboard – And Tech Does Well
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer Highlights The Benefits Robust Competition Between Leading Tech Services Provides
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Atkinson And Lind Highlight Economic Benefits Of Large Firms
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 […]
Read More
STATEMENT: New Publisher Cartel Will Hurt Consumers
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Campaign To Regulate Leading Tech Services Is Driven By Competitors, Not Consumers
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 […]
Read More
Setting The Record Straight: News Media Alliance’s Request To Be A Cartel Ignores The Facts
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 […]
Read More
FTC Hearing Highlights: Big Is Not Bad, Disruptive Competition In Tech, And The Strength Of Current Antitrust Laws
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Economist Timothy Taylor: “It’s Not Enough To Rave Against The Size Of Big Tech”
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 […]
Read More
ICYMI: Larry Downes Takes On Scott Galloway’s Flawed Calls To Break Up Leading Tech Services
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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Setting The Record Straight: DCN Report Fails To Capture The Value Tech Companies Provide Publishers
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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Setting The Record Straight: The Intercept Misses The Mark On Basics Of Tech Industry
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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Setting The Record Straight: Consumer Impacts, Not Stock Market Movements, Should Drive Competition Policy
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 Davos Disconnect: Out Of Touch With Americans & The World?
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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Makan Delrahim, AAG for Antitrust at @TheJusticeDept: “The goal of the antitrust laws is to protect competition, not competitors.” https://t.co/MlAJJLRVOT
ICYMI: DOJ Antitrust Division AAG Makan Delrahim – "Protect Competition, Not Competitors" - Springboard - Tech empowering the next wave of opportunity
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 …
The neo-Brandeisian tech critics often contradict themselves and try to have it both ways. @DanielDanCrane did a good job pointing these hypocrisies. https://t.co/Z1srHbGSlA https://t.co/kfoj9HbWVc
ICYMI: Four Questions For The Neo-Brandeisian Tech Critics - Springboard - Tech empowering the next wave of opportunity
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 …
As @joldmcginn notes, antitrust jurisprudence is “one of the greatest achievements of the forces for liberty.” https://t.co/zLeyfLrxSp
US antitrust doctrine is perhaps the greatest conservative philosophical victory. Why are some conservatives so willing to throw it away? - AEI
Is Big Tech really so different that ditching the consumer welfare standard is necessary? Caution seems warranted, to say the least.
When it comes to antitrust, @JimPethokoukis argues the willingness of some thinkers to abandon the consumer welfare standard is “stunning.” https://t.co/zLeyfL9WtP
US antitrust doctrine is perhaps the greatest conservative philosophical victory. Why are some conservatives so willing to throw it away? - AEI
Is Big Tech really so different that ditching the consumer welfare standard is necessary? Caution seems warranted, to say the least.
ICYMI: @TheJusticeDept Antitrust Division AAG Makan Delrahim argued this week that the consumer welfare standard is “flexible to new business models generally and digital media markets, in particular.” https://t.co/MlAJJLRVOT
ICYMI: DOJ Antitrust Division AAG Makan Delrahim – "Protect Competition, Not Competitors" - Springboard - Tech empowering the next wave of opportunity
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 …
As @drj_policy has pointed out, “Successful tech companies become large because customers choose them.” Calls for break-up, like from telco talking head @SCleland, ignore consumer preferences. https://t.co/xYrbYrRdlY https://t.co/jupbEO7uFk
Five myths that cloud people’s thinking about tech markets
Commentators continue to rely on economic and regulatory myths to support their calls for more regulation of tech companies.
Leading tech services engage in holistic competition across a variety of industries – each fearful of “being disrupted or displaced by new technologies.” @JimPethokoukis https://t.co/JZ5XwMGcZJ
Leave Silicon Valley alone
Big tech isn't destroying America. It's our economic salvation.
The history of digital services is rich of examples where “a simple insight into customer needs allowed entry into markets where incumbents already had access to big data.” @ce_tucker @anja_lambrecht https://t.co/vezXXJLSrT
Streaming services are not just producing new content — “they’re also salvaging old ones.” A variety of actors in the digital content space have created “a glut of choices” https://t.co/zGZcOsRuy0
Soul-Searching in TV Land Over the Challenges of a New Golden Age
With the number of shows approaching 400 this year, John Landgraf of FX Networks says the cluttered TV landscape is challenging viewers and the industry.
“The goal of antitrust laws is to protect competition, not competitors,” said @TheJusticeDept Antitrust Division leader Makan Delrahim. Catch the highlights: https://t.co/f9GZ4djlUW
ICYMI: DOJ Antitrust Division AAG Makan Delrahim – "Protect Competition, Not Competitors" - Springboard - Tech empowering the next wave of opportunity
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 …