Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, WORTH NOTING—Other Antitrust and Trade Regulation developments, (Mar 27, 2015)
Organizations Mentioned:American Antitrust Institute | Expedia, Inc. | Google | Orbitz Worldwide, Inc.
A periodic roundup of other items of interest to the Antitrust and Trade Regulation community:
ANTITRUST NEWS: A Wall Street Journal article earlier this week, entitled “Google Makes Most of Close Ties to White House,” made a number of misleading inferences regarding the integrity of the FTC’s 2011-2013 antitrust investigation into Google’s internet search practices, FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez and Commissioners Julie Brill and Maureen Ohlhausen charged. The article, they said, suggested that a series of disparate and unrelated meetings involving FTC officials and executive branch officials or Google representatives somehow affected the Commission’s decision to close the agency’s investigation in early 2013. However, not a single fact was offered to substantiate this misleading narrative, the Commissioners allege.
ANTITRUST NEWS: The American Antitrust Institute (AAI) is raising concern that the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP) trade agreements, currently being negotiated, might undermine competition policy. The organization is concerned that the ISDS might allow a foreign investor to seek damages for lost profits in a private arbitration from a host government on broad grounds not available to domestic firms, grounds such as that new domestic laws and policies frustrated its business expectations.
ACQUISITIONS & MERGERS NEWS: In its review of Expedia’s pending acquisition of Orbitz, the Department of Justice has made a second request for additional information and documentary material under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. Expedia and Orbitz have indicated that they intend to cooperate fully with the DOJ’s second request and are working to help the DOJ complete its review before the end of the year.
ANTITRUST NEWS: Canada’s Competition Bureau has announced that it is seeking input into its first three-year strategic plan. It released a draft of the 2015-2018 Strategic Plan that will guide its competition enforcement and promotion activities over the next three years. Comments on the plan should be submitted by April 10, 2015.
Companies: Google; Expedia, Inc.; Orbitz Worldwide, Inc.
News: AcquisitionsMergers Antitrust