Antitrust Group

House Judiciary Committee to Consider Antitrust Status of National Football League

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. John Conyers (D.-Mich.), has announced that on January 20, the Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy will hold a hearing on the Supreme Court’s pending decision in American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League. The notice of the hearing can be found here: http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/hear_100120.html In the case below, the...

Second Circuit Revives Internet Music Price-Fixing Case That Record Giants Thought Had Been Killed By The Twombly Silver Bullet

Antitrust defendants got a reminder yesterday that while the United States Supreme Court may have stiffened pleading requirements in recent years, its Twombly decision is not always a silver bullet. Applying Twombly (which often means the dismissal of an antitrust case), the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit yesterday restored a complaint alleging price fixing of internet music by major record labels –...

The Antitrust Class Action Comes To Italy

Italian consumer rights group Codacons has filed class action lawsuits against Italy’s two largest banks – Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (ISP.MI) and UniCredit SpA (UCG.MI) – for banking fees paid by more than 25 million customers. The cases are the first to be brought under a new law permitting class action suits in Italian courts, and could force the two banks to pay up to 6.25 billion Euros (approximately nine...

Saints’ Quarterback Says: Say It Ain’t So, Supremes

It may be a Hail Mary pass, but New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has thrown a long bomb to the Supreme Court with a Washington Post op-ed that warns the Supremes that their decision in the upcoming case of American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League, could end up sacking both professional athletes and antitrust enforcement. At issue in the American Needle case is the extent to which the NFL – and...

Congress To Consider Comcast-NBC Deal

News reports indicate that the Senate Judiciary’s Antitrust Subcommittee will vet the Comcast-NBC Universal joint venture in late January or early February.  The reports indicate that Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts and NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker will testify at the hearing. Comcast and NBC Universal announced the $30 billion deal on December 3, 2009.  Because it combines substantial assets in...

Second Circuit Extends Implied Preclusion Of Antitrust Laws To Prime Brokers

The Second Circuit has extended the implied preclusion doctrine with its recent decision affirming the dismissal by the Southern District of New York of a Sherman Act class action in Electronic Trading Group, LLC v. Banc of America Securities LLC (“Short Sale”). The Short Sale decision is based on the implied preclusion doctrine established by the Supreme Court in Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC v....

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