antitrust

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

Report: DOJ Taking a Hard Look at Ticketmaster's Parent

Live Nation will likely face federal antitrust suit over its dominance of live events market

(Newser) - The antitrust accusations against Ticketmaster parent company Live Nation are about to hit the fan. According to the Wall Street Journal , the Justice Department plans to file an antitrust lawsuit against the company within weeks. Live Nation has been accused of controlling the ticketing and live event venues market, a...

US Sues Apple, Alleges an Illegal Monopoly

Justice Department says the iPhone maker stifles competition

(Newser) - The Justice Department on Thursday announced a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Apple, accusing the tech giant of engineering an illegal monopoly in smartphones that boxes out competitors and stifles innovation, per the AP . The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New Jersey, alleges that Apple has monopoly power in the...

EU Fines Apple $2B for Move That Impacted 'Millions'

Tech giant is hit with antitrust penalty for favoring its own music streaming service over rivals'

(Newser) - The European Union leveled its first antitrust penalty against Apple on Monday, fining the US tech giant nearly $2 billion for breaking the bloc's competition laws by unfairly favoring its own music streaming service over rivals. Apple banned app developers from "fully informing iOS users about alternative and...

Millions Are About to Receive Some Cash From Google

Company agrees to $700M settlement with consumers, states on high fees for app developers

(Newser) - More than 100 million consumers are eligible to receive funds from Google as part of an antitrust payout worth $700 million over fees Google charged in its app store. Per settlement terms released Monday , the tech giant will deposit $630 million into a fund that will dole out compensation to...

Largest Antitrust Trial in US in 25 Years Is About to Kick Off

Justice Department takes on Google over its search engine dominance

(Newser) - Google will confront a threat to its dominant search engine beginning Tuesday when federal regulators launch an attempt to dismantle its internet empire in the biggest US antitrust trial in a quarter century. Over the next 10 weeks, federal lawyers and state attorneys general will try to prove Google rigged...

Judge Rejects FTC Move to Halt $69B Microsoft-Activision Deal

With clock ticking to get the deal closed, court hands Microsoft a major victory

(Newser) - A federal judge has handed Microsoft a major victory by declining to block its looming $69 billion takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard. US District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley said in a ruling that the Federal Trade Commission "has not shown a likelihood it will prevail on its...

Meta Unloads Giphy, Is Out Hundreds of Millions

Facebook parent sells GIF search engine to Shutterstock for $53M after UK regulators' decision

(Newser) - In 2020, Meta scooped up Giphy, a GIF search engine used by Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms, for $400 million. On Tuesday, Facebook's parent company announced it had sold the product to stock image service Shutterstock for a mere $53 million—effectively taking a nearly $350 million loss....

UK Just Nixed the Biggest Tech Deal in History

Microsoft's $69B attempt to buy video game maker Activision scuttled over fears of stifling competition

(Newser) - British regulators have blocked Microsoft's $69 billion deal to buy video game maker Activision Blizzard over worries that it would stifle competition in the cloud gaming market. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority said in its final report Wednesday that "the only effective remedy" to the significant...

Feds, States File 'Huge' Lawsuit Against Google

Antitrust lawsuit targets dominance in digital advertising

(Newser) - The Justice Department and several states sued Google on Tuesday, alleging that its dominance in digital advertising harms competition. The government alleges that Google’s plan to assert dominance has been to "neutralize or eliminate" rivals through acquisitions and to force advertisers to use its products by making it...

Tennessee AG Isn't Shaking Off Ticketmaster's Swift Debacle

Jonathan Skrmetti looking into consumer complaints on Ticketmaster sales for singer's tour

(Newser) - The Ticketmaster fumble on Tuesday during sales for Taylor Swift's Eras Tour wasn't just an annoyance for fans—it was a bungle that's caught the attention of Tennessee's attorney general. At a Wednesday video news conference, AG Jonathan Skrmetti announced that, due to multiple consumer complaints...

Stephen King Will Be Star Witness in Publishing Antitrust Trial

Government is trying to block merger of two of publishing's 'Big Five'

(Newser) - The government and publishing titan Penguin Random House exchanged opening salvos in a federal antitrust trial Monday as the US seeks to block the biggest US book publisher from absorbing rival Simon & Schuster. The case comes as a key test of the Biden administration’s antitrust policy, the AP...

FTC Is Investigating McFlurry Machines

Company accuses manufacturer of 'multimillion-dollar repair racket'

(Newser) - McDonald's notoriously finicky McFlurry machines may be in violation of antitrust law, Gizmodo reports, based on a new investigation by the Federal Trade Commission. The agency is investigating why the machines so often fail amid a legal fight between the manufacturer, which has a monopoly on repairs, and a...

Biden Executive Order Takes On Big Tech, Net Neutrality

Initiatives include directives around data collection and health care

(Newser) - President Biden signed a sweeping executive order Friday aimed at reining in some tech company practices and clearing a path for reforms in health care, too. The Promoting Competition in the American Economy executive order that he signed Friday has 72 initiatives, CNET reports. Some seem deceptively simple, like a...

Judge Tosses Government Cases Against Facebook

He ruled that FTC had failed to prove social media site has monopoly power

(Newser) - Facebook has emerged victorious—for now—in a Goliath vs. Goliath legal battle. A federal judge has struck down antitrust lawsuits brought against the social media giant by the Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of 46 state attorneys general, NBC reports. US District Judge James E. Boasberg of the...

Regulators Might Block Amazon's MGM Buy
Regulators Might Block
Amazon's MGM Buy
THE RUNDOWN
May 26, 2021 2:45 PM CDT

Regulators Might Block Amazon's MGM Buy

Company's size could make acquisition a 'red flag' for antitrust officials

(Newser) - Amazon announced Wednesday that it has reached an $8.45 billion deal to acquire MGM Studios—but before the online giant can declare itself the owner of the James Bond franchise and the rest of MGM's enormous library, antitrust regulators will need to give the deal the green light....

App Store Trial Could Reshape Mobile Market

Apple v. Epic Games had a chaotic start Monday

(Newser) - A court battle that could reshape the market for apps on mobile devices got underway Monday—and the Epic Games v. Apple trial had a chaotic start. The dispute began when Apple kicked Epic's "Fortnite" game off the App Store . A court conference call allowed callers to listen...

Regulators Are Cracking Down on 'China's Amazon'

'A concern would be that market power may potentially morph into political power'

(Newser) - The Chinese government is extremely wary of anything that could pose a challenge to one-party rule—including the growing power of tech giants. Regulators announced Thursday they're cracking down on Alibaba, an e-commerce giant known as "China's Amazon," and its financial services sister company Ant, formerly...

46 State Attorneys General Sue to Break Up Facebook

Social media giant accused of using its dominance to crush the competition

(Newser) - When it comes to taking on Facebook, bipartisanship is alive and well. Attorneys general from 46 states, along with Guam and Washington, DC, filed an antitrust against the social media giant Wednesday, accusing it of using its dominance to crush competition, NPR reports. The lawsuit is being led by New...

Online Giant Faces EU Antitrust Charges

Regulators say Amazon uses other companies' data against them

(Newser) - European Union regulators filed antitrust charges Tuesday against Amazon, accusing the e-commerce giant of using its access to data from companies that sell products on its platform to gain an unfair advantage over them. The charges, filed two years after the bloc's antitrust enforcer began looking into the company,...

US Going After Google in Landmark Case

Justice Department to file an antitrust suit, and implications could be far-flung in tech

(Newser) - The Justice Department is expected to file a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that Google has been abusing its online dominance in online search to stifle competition and harm consumers, per the AP . The Washington Post also has the story, saying it "could have vast implications not only for Google but...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>