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1 month ago | 
truthonthemarket.com | Eric Fruits |Brian Albrecht |Geoffrey Manne |John Yun
The U.S. Commerce Department plans to revamp the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program with a shift toward a more technology-neutral approach, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced yesterday, adding that his department is also exploring ways to cut the program’s red tape.
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1 month ago | 
truthonthemarket.com | Eric Fruits |Geoffrey Manne |Brian Albrecht |John Yun
Today’s media landscape bears little resemblance to the one that existed when most existing broadcast and cable regulations were created. While consumers increasingly access video content through streaming platforms subject to minimal oversight, legacy media providers continue to operate under restrictive regulatory frameworks designed for a bygone era. This regulatory asymmetry creates economic inefficiencies and distorts competition.
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1 month ago | 
truthonthemarket.com | Geoffrey Manne |Brian Albrecht |John Yun |Daniel Gilman
In his August 2024 ruling in the Google Search antitrust litigation, U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta found that Google’s default-distribution agreements—through which the company paid Apple, Mozilla, and others to make Google the preloaded search engine—were exclusionary under Section 2 of the Sherman Act.
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1 month ago | 
truthonthemarket.com | Brian Albrecht |Geoffrey Manne |John Yun |Daniel Gilman
The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust suit against Amazon, originally filed in October 2023, is scheduled for trial in October 2026. In the meantime, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington has scheduled a March 7 “economics day” hearing to focus on fundamental economic concepts that will shape the case—including the crucial question of market definition. Market definition serves as the starting point for antitrust analysis.
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1 month ago | 
truthonthemarket.com | Alden Abbott |John Yun |Daniel Gilman |Eric Fruits
President Donald Trump took a significant step forward in consolidating his administration’s control over executive-branch policy by issuing a Feb.
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1 month ago | 
truthonthemarket.com | John Yun |Daniel Gilman |Eric Fruits |Brian Albrecht
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) proposed a $14 billion deal in early 2024 to acquire Juniper Networks. HPE, it should be noted, is not the Hewlett Packard (HP) of printer and ink fame, as it was spun off from the larger HP corporation in 2015. Instead, HPE is, like Juniper, involved in connectivity—specifically, wireless technology, including software and hardware to deliver internet access to large enterprises and campuses.
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Jan 13, 2025 | 
law.com | John Yun
In a posted letter on X (Twitter), Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) have urged the respective heads of the U.S. federal antitrust agencies, that is, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), to investigate DraftKings and FanDuel. The senators expressed considerable concern that these two leading online fantasy sports companies are coordinating to exclude innovative rivals in a manner that violates federal antitrust laws.
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Nov 18, 2024 | 
truthonthemarket.com | Brian Albrecht |Eric Fruits |Daniel Gilman |John Yun
Politicians have stopped listening to economists. Well, I’m not sure they ever listened, but now they really don’t. The Wall Street Journal even declared this was “The Year Politicians Turned Their Backs on Economics.” As Greg Ip explained, “the candidates haven’t just demoted economic principles this year; they’ve jettisoned them altogether. It’s as if they wanted to flip the bird at the economic establishment.”Many critics will rejoice.
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Nov 12, 2024 | 
truthonthemarket.com | Eric Fruits |Daniel Gilman |Kristian Stout |John Yun
Bell Canada, Canada’s largest communications company, recently announced plans to acquire Ziply Fiber, a fiber-internet provider in the Pacific Northwest. The C$7 billion deal represents Bell’s strategic play to expand its fiber footprint into the United States and to capitalize on growth opportunities in what it sees as an underserved U.S. fiber market. The proposed acquisition is not, however, without its challenges.
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Nov 8, 2024 | 
truthonthemarket.com | Daniel Gilman |Kristian Stout |John Yun |Julian Morris
You’re no doubt aware that we’ve had a presidential election since my last column. Agency news seems pallid, in comparison, but those of you who’ve come here looking for deep insights into what it all means are liable to be disappointed, not to mention zero in number. “The Meaning of Life” is a movie by Monty Python. I recommend it. Staying closer to my lane, I’d like to tell you what the vote means for antitrust; I just don’t happen to know what that is.
