The Antitrust Week In Review
Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following.
How Facebook Is Changing to Deal With Scrutiny of Its Power. Senator Elizabeth Warren has called for the breakup of big tech companies like Facebook. Regulators have opened investigations into Facebook’s power in social networking. Even one of Facebook’s own founders has laid out a case for why the company needs to be split up. Now the world’s biggest social network has started to modify its behavior — in both pre-emptive and defensive ways — to deal with those threats.
Democrat wants FCC to open T-Mobile, Sprint settlement for comment. U.S. Representative David Cicilline urged Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Thursday to give the public the chance to comment on a draft order that would grant agency approval to the $26 billion merger of T-Mobile US Inc and Sprint Corp. Cicilline, chairman of the House Antitrust Subcommittee, said in a statement Pai’s order on Wednesday “behind closed doors” is rushing the merger that “demands a thorough and transparent review.” He urged the FCC to allow public comment on the proposed merger, which won antitrust approval from the Justice Department in July after the companies agreed to divest Sprint’s prepaid businesses, including Boost Mobile, to DISH Network Corp.
U.S. antitrust unit seeks additional information from United Tech, Raytheon. United Technologies UX.N and Raytheon Co (RTN.N) have received requests for additional information from the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice related to their $120 billion merger, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday. The two companies last month were also asked to provide documentary material, the filing showed. On June 10, United Technologies and Raytheon announced a deal that would intensify the pace of consolidation in the aerospace and defense industry.
Colombia Antitrust Regulator Fines Uber for Blocking Probe. Colombia’s antitrust regulator is fining ride-sharing app Uber $625,000 for allegedly obstructing an investigation into its operations in the country. Three executives were also fined.
Tagged in: Antitrust Enforcement, International Competition Issues,