This is a rundown of last week’s news updates on Antitrust:
Google asserts before EU General Court that $5 billion antitrust fine unfounded
Tech giant Google had been fined by the European Commission, the EU’s antitrust regulator, on grounds that it had leveraged its Android operating system to fortify its dominant position in the internet search sector since 2011. Google’s submissions before the five-judge bench of the General Court were that the fine imposed was based on flawed calculations, on the grounds that Google’s actions lacked an anti-competitive intent. The European Commission however argued that negligent infringements of competition law merit the same seriousness as intentional infringements.
Facebook requests US judge to dismiss suit forcing sale of Instagram, Whatsapp
Social media company Facebook has urged a US judge to reject an amended antitrust case, which seeks to force the company to sell Instagram and WhatsApp. Facebook submitted that the Federal Trade Commission lacked a “plausible factual basis for branding Facebook an unlawful monopolist.” Facebook has also requested that the lawsuit be dismissed with prejudice, which would short the FTC’s chances of amending the lawsuit in the future.
US House Antitrust Subcommittee calls on tech cos. for comments on antitrust bills
The US House Antitrust Subcommittee has called on Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook to provide their comments on how certain tabled antitrust bills would affect their operations. These bills had been pending before the House Subcommittee owing to the need to ensure that members of both parties fully grasp the technology markets that have been under investigation. The proposals which would apply at certain thresholds based on market capitalisation and monthly users, broadly cover aspects of acquisitions, special treatment to subsidiary apps over competitors, and forced divestments.
Authored by Rohan Joshua Jacob (Associate) and Shabarna Choudhury (Intern).
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