US Competition Enforcers Launch Overhaul of Merger Approval Process (theverge.com) 14
The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission has launched a joint effort to modernize antitrust enforcement, seeking comment on how the agencies can apply current law in cases against tech companies like Meta (parent company of Facebook) and Google. From a report: The announcement came at a joint press conference from FTC Chair Lina Khan and Justice Department Antitrust Chief Jonathan Kanter, who described the move as a wide-ranging enforcement modernization effort. While the announcement spans markets, it specifically questions how regulators should approach merger approval in digital markets, potentially setting new legal standards around data aggregation, interoperability, and market consolidation that can affect competition. "The digital revolution has not only impacted the markets of tech but markets across our economy, many of which have been rebuilt from the inside out," Kanter said during Tuesday's press conference. "Just think about what happens when you check your weather forecast or purchase your morning coffee. In seconds, whether you see them or not, you interact with dozens of distinct services; many of these services have the ability to exploit and exercise market power."
The goverment is reaping what they sow (Score:4, Interesting)
There are many mergers that should not have been approved, foremost is mergers\buyouts that were approved between facebook and instagram, and whatsapp ect. Now facebook is to big and powereful for the government to reign in, but they have themselves to blame for it. They approved the mergers, for many there is no alternative to facebook. I think the antitrust laws should have kicked in with those buyouts.
Re: (Score:2)
The government will ALWAYS be behind the curve. This is not a bug, it's a feature. Governments that try to anticipate where an industry will go, and try to establish regulations in advance, will always guess wrong, and we'll be stuck with (more) stupid regulations that accomplish nothing.
When the internet was born, no one knew what an impact it would have on our lives. Establishing regulations against mergers of internet companies in 1990 would have killed the internet.
At what point should the government in
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How about blocking or approving mergers depending on marketshare in a given category?
Also, why the fuck is Slashdot so fucking slow this evening? WTF is happening?
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How does one define a "given category"? It's all in how you slice and dice. Businesses would figure out really quickly how to slice the market such that they wouldn't dominate, just like politicians today slice and dice the voting districts.
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[F]or many there is no alternative to facebook.
There are many alternatives to Facebook. My personal preferences are telephone calls using my landline (particularly when the power is out), letters and postcards sent through the USPS, and over-the-air PBS broadcasts.
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I stick to SMS and email, but everyone else won't get off of facebook, so I keep it around. I am sure to not click on any buttons that might engage me or suck me in, much to the chagrin of zukerberg.
Simple solution (Score:2)
Corporations are people. People cannot own other people (per A. Lincoln [wikipedia.org]). No more mergers/acquisitions.
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So if corporations are people, is shutting down a business murder or suicide? There is only so far that you can take the analogy.
Slavery is one of very few things that deserve zero tolerance.
Consider my friend Joe (his real name). He owns a small IT consulting business with about 100 employees. He also owns his own office building, technically owned by a separate corporation that he wholly owns. If Joe wants to merge his consulting business with his corporation that owns his office building, why should we s
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is shutting down a business murder or suicide?
Either, depending on who is doing it. But neither murder or suicide is wrong in all cases.
I'm still waiting for Texas courts to put a company on death row.
Re: Simple solution (Score:1)
Unfortunately, the big corporations are just going to undermine this process as well, turning it into yet another avenue to leech more wealth out of society.
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True. And on top of it they'll use lobbying power to ensure whatever new regulations are put in place are a hundred times more effective against the little guys trying to team up than they are against the already existing behemoths in the internet age. And our government is so stupid they'll just happily go along with it as it happens.
Practice a word... (Score:2)
"No."
Make it simple (Score:2)