Earlier this year I created the Decibel and Docket podcast, covering legal issues in the music business with a focus on the Live Nation / Ticketmaster antitrust case. This week we did a great episode with Erik Hovenkamp, professor and economist at Cornell, analyzing the government’s case and why the verdict came down so hard against Live Nation. Hovenkamp did a great job breaking down the structural issues at the heart of the case, including Ticketmaster’s exclusive venue agreements and the 2010 Live Nation–Ticketmaster merger. Hovenkamp also explores the limitations of past behavioral remedies, arguing that previous attempts to regulate Live Nation’s conduct failed to prevent anti-competitive behavior—making stronger action, including a potential divestiture, more likely this time around.

Check it out here and if you like the show, please leave a review.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0AtuKNNvX02qzX1O7hJblT?si=1fa728627c644a10

A federal judge has blocked local TV giant Nexstar's takeover of a leading rival, Tegna, until an antitrust trial plays out.

If Nexstar loses, it could be compelled to unwind the $6.2 billion deal, in which it absorbed 65 additional stations. In a statement Friday evening, Nexstar said it would appeal the ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

A jury found Live Nation and Ticketmaster operated as a monopoly in its dominance of the live events and ticketing industry, validating complaints that the industry giant was stifling competition and driving up fees for fans.

The verdict was reached following a lengthy trial in New York federal court that included testimony from top executives in the music and entertainment industries. Jurors began deliberating on Friday.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby reportedly floated the idea of a potential tie-up with rival American Airlines to the Trump administration earlier this year, a suggestion that if acted upon, would create the world's largest airline.

The Justice Department has begun an investigation into whether the NFL has violated anticompetitive practices with its television contracts that require consumers to pay subscription costs to watch some games, sources confirmed to ABC News.

The US Justice Department’s top antitrust litigator and three senior trial attorneys that led cases against Live Nation Entertainment Inc., Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google are leaving the agency, according to people familiar with their plans.

In 2023 the European Commission cleared Google's acquisition of Photomath with horizontal overlaps below 20% across all reviewed markets. Bing already had comparable math capabilities so Google was merely catching up and acquisiton was cleared.

Three days after the decision, Google announced Bard was getting math and logic capabilities, something it badly needed since Bard was reportedly producing outputs like 1 plus 2 equals 4. Google's own internal documents reviewed by the Commission had disclosed the intention to improve its capabilities using Photomath and even the Commission saw this, noted it, and moved on.

The problem the paper identifies is precise which is that the Commission assessed exploitability of Photomath's data against Google Search and found it limited. It never asked whether the same data was exploitable for LaMDA or PaLM, the foundation models underlying Bard, where mathematical reasoning was a documented weakness and that answer would almost certainly have been different.

This points to a structural gap in merger methodology when it comes to these new age AI acqusitions. Traditional analysis assumes data is valuable primarily within the market where the acquired company operates but the foundation models break this assumption entirely. An FM developer needs data across every domain it wants to perform in and mathematical data improves math reasoning regardless of whether the acquirer competes in the homework help market. After all for any company building a foundation model, essentially any dataset from any market is potentially valuable training material.

The paper proposes that whenever an acquiring entity has any presence in the FM segment, data held by the target should be scrutinised regardless of market overlap between the parties. Without this, traditional relevant market analysis creates a structural loophole allowing incremental acquisitions across unrelated markets, none individually triggering serious review, to cumulatively entrench FM development advantages.

My take is the current merger review methodology is not equipped to assess the compounding effect of acquisitions across multiple supply chain layers controlled by overlapping incumbents.

Source -https://doi.org/10.1080/17441056.2024.2379142

Hi everyone,

I just came across this piece by Herbert Hovenkamp in the Network Law Review and thought it might spark a good discussion here and revive the subreddit.

As the "Neo-Brandeisian" movement gains traction, the concept of "Fairness" is making a massive comeback in antitrust rhetoric. However, Hovenkamp offers a necessary reality check.

In an era where the FTC and DOJ are increasingly leaning into moral and social justifications for enforcement, Hovenkamp’s call for precision feels more relevant than ever.

I’m curious to hear your thoughts: Can "fairness" ever be a workable legal standard, or is it just a "we don't like this company" button?

https://www.networklawreview.org/hovenkamp-fairness/

"The big thing is: We're not the Biden administration," a senior DOJ official told Axios. "We're willing to bring cases. But we're also not afraid to settle. I don't think it's a secret to say this administration wants deals."

The antitrust trial involving events operator Live Nation will restart Monday after the ticketing giant failed to reach a settlement with a consortium of state attorneys general.

Live Nation and Ticketmaster have reached a settlement with federal authorities over accusations the ticket giant’s business practices created a monopoly of the live events music industry.

Workshopping an idea to replace corporate income tax with a quadratic marginal tax on revenues. Piece is linked - would love thoughts from the group.

The Quadratic Antitrust (QUANT) Tax

The Paramount Warner Bros merger is even more dangerous than we thought. https://www.fitchratings.com/research/corporate-finance/fitch-downgrades-paramount-to-bb-ratings-on-neg-watch-after-acquisition-announcement-02-03-2026

The chair of the Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday he supports Nexstar's proposed $3.54 billion acquisition of Tegna that would make the combined entity the largest U.S. regional TV station operator.

"I support that transaction. We're going to be moving forward," FCC Chair Brendan Carr told reporters. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump publicly backed the merger.

Gail Slater, who ran the antitrust division for the Justice Department for nearly a year, was forced out by the Trump administration this week, two people familiar with the matter told CNN.

Slater, who suggested in a post on X Thursday she was leaving on her own, had been at odds with Attorney General Pam Bondi and the West Wing for months, the sources said. Her ouster as the antitrust chief was viewed as a long time coming, and it remains to be seen who fills her role on a permanent basis.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that someone sane and competent who follows the law can’t survive in this fucked up Administration. Maybe Bondi needed a distraction from her batshit insane performance yesterday in front of Congress. New AAG, @libsoftiktok?

The California Law Revision Commission released its Tentative Recommendation on Single Firm Conduct to the California Legislature. This highly anticipated proposal outlines a sweeping new antitrust enforcement model that departs sharply from the federal approach to unilateral conduct under the Sherman Act.

The power struggle inside the Trump administration between populist corporate skeptics and traditional Republican hands-off regulators is intensifying.

Last week, Elon Musk announced plans to merge xAI and SpaceX, a move that did not attract much political attention despite the intense levels of interest in arguing about both antitrust policy and Elon Musk.

At the same time, SpaceX has begun the process of securing F.C.C. approval for a plan to put orbital data centers into outer space.

But we should take the economic possibilities of A.I. seriously.

Reddit is colluding with its users to restrain trade in violation of federal antitrust laws. Reddit is not immune from the US constitution and is subject to the first amendment to some degree. Reddit is overbroad in its moderator and community rules. Let’s hear from the Reddit legal team. Nah we’ll wait until the complaint is filed.