Business Rights
Top 10 Articles
Alexander R. Cohen
Did Dow Know the $1.2B Antitrust Charge against It?
“The absurdity of its premise — that Dow could escape liability for an illegal antitrust conspiracy because plaintiffs alleged a longer conspiracy than found by the jury — convinces the court that it should not [let Dow off the hook.]”
Google Offers Concessions in EU Antitrust Case
In an effort to avoid fines, Google has proposed concessions to its rivals and European antitrust authorities.
Reuters describes the concessions in a way that seems natural—but it’s worth considering what these concessions actually mean. I’ve commented on two of them; I invite you to consider the others.
DOJ Requires Brewery Expansion in InBev Antitrust Case
The U.S. Department of Justice has agreed to stop trying to prevent beer makers AB InBev and Grupo Modelo from merging.
Was Anything Scandalous Said at This Antitrust Hearing?
Unlike last time I went to a Senate antitrust hearing, I heard nothing scandalous at today’s. Nothing, except everything.
How Antitrust Competes against Freedom
April 16, 2013 -- Suppose you and your colleagues want to be paid more. So you make an agreement not to do any more work unless your pay is increased. If you’re unionized laborers, there’s a federal agency that may look after you. But if you’re lawyers with your own offices, taking court appointments to represent poor criminal defendants, there’s a federal agency that may go after you.
The InBev Merger, the Price of Corona, and the Cost of Antitrust
April 15, 2013 -- America’s top beer-ocrat goes to the Senate tomorrow.
Permission to Tweet Freely, Sir?
Regulators have restricted so much finance-related speech that people in the industry now have to lobby for the freedom to use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn like the rest of us. Or almost like the rest of us.
Speech regulation can make social networks dangerous for executives in other fields, too. Reed Hastings came under threat for boasting that Netflix had streamed a billion hours of video in one month.
Flying Managed-Economy to London
If you think antitrust is about fair competition, take a look at this: Delta and Virgin Atlantic are asking the U.S. Department of Transportation for a free pass to coordinate their U.S.-U.K. flight schedules. It seems such coordination might normally violate antitrust law, but the DOT can waive antitrust law to help certain companies.
Treacy: Get a Lawyer When You Become Big
James J. Treacy may have helped you find a job, but years after he left Monster.com, he was sent to prison over paperwork there. Treacy, the former chief operating officer of Monster Worldwide, served the longest prison sentence in the backdated-options frenzy: two years.
Why Don’t More Businessmen Fight?
When businessmen get involved in policy advocacy, they can help promote the freedom to do business. Yet the impression, fostered by some libertarian intellectuals, that business lobbying tends only to produce special favors for politically connected businesses, can discourage honorable businessmen from participating in the fight for their own freedom. So argues Fred L.
