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The Antitrust Week In Review

Posted  March 22, 2022

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following.

 

Microsoft faces EU antitrust complaint about its cloud computing business.  U.S. tech giant Microsoft is facing an antitrust complaint filed by three European rivals in the booming cloud computing business, one the plaintiffs said. The complaint, filed with the European Union’s competition watchdog months ago, alleges that Microsoft’s contractual and business practices make it costly and difficult for users of its cloud computing services to opt for those of a competitor, a source close to the matter said. French cloud computing services provider OVHcloud confirmed in a statement that it had joined the complaint against Microsoft. A spokesperson for the company declined to give the names of the two other European plaintiffs.

 

U.S. senators urge probe of Live Nation’s ‘exorbitant fees’ for tickets.  Democratic Senators Richard Blumenthal and Amy Klobuchar, both active in antitrust, wrote to the U.S. Justice Department to urge officials to investigate potential anti-competitive actions by Live Nation, which owns ticketing giant Ticketmaster. The lawmakers cited the company’s previous violation of an agreement with the Justice Department that allowed the controversial merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation in 2010. That was settled with Live Nation agreeing to refrain from retaliating against venues that do not use its Ticketmaster service for every event. The lawmakers asked the department to assess Live Nation’s compliance with the updated consent decree.

 

U.S. judge rejects Shkreli’s request to delay $64.6 million payment pending appeal.  A federal judge rejected Martin Shkreli’s request to delay a $64.6 million payment while he appeals a loss to the Federal Trade Commission over whether he broke antitrust law while sharply pushing up the price of a life-saving drug. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan had ruled in January for the FTC and seven states that accused Shkreli, the founder of Vyera Pharmaceuticals, of using illegal tactics to keep rivals out of the market while raising the price of the drug Daraprim to $750 per tablet from $17.50 in 2015. She also barred Shkreli, who is in prison, from the pharmaceutical industry for life.

 

Edited by Gary J. Malone