Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New Jersey, alleges that Apple has monopoly power in the smartphone market and uses its control over the iPhone to “engage in a broad, sustained, and illegal course of conduct.” The lawsuit — which was also filed with 16 state attorneys general — is the latest example of the Justice Department’s approach to aggressive enforcement of federal antitrust law that...

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit to block the proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons because of the negative ramifications he says it would have for residents, such as fewer options and higher prices. In the suit, filed on Monday, Ferguson argued that the proposed $24.6 billion merger, announced in October 2022, "will likely substantially lessen supermarket competition or tend to create a monopoly in many Washington communities," where both companies currently compete. This would likely increase prices of food and other grocery products in supermarkets offered to Washington consumers while simultaneously decreasing "the quantity and quality...

Pfizer has stunned the medical world, completing the $43 billion acquisition of Seagen, a small drug company that treats turbo cancers and barely makes $2 billion per year. The acquisition means Pfizer becomes the largest oncology company in the world, capable of treating most turbo cancers caused by mRNA vaccines. However, the nature of the acquisition has left many people scratching their heads. Why would Pfizer, flush with the enormous profits it has reaped through its mRNA vaccine, overpay $43 billion for a small cancer drug company? Pfizer does not need the cash. It will also issue $31 billion in...

President Joe Biden believes “serious scrutiny” is warranted for the planned acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon Steel, the White House said Thursday after days of silence on a transaction that has drawn alarm from the steelworkers union.Lael Brainard, the director of National Economic Council, indicated the deal would be reviewed by the secretive Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which includes economic and national security agency representatives to investigate national security risks from foreign investments in American firms. She said in a statement that Biden “believes the purchase of this iconic American-owned company by a foreign...

This article is a preview of The Tech Friend newsletter. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Tuesday and Friday. A long anticipated government antitrust lawsuit against Amazon was filed on Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know about what the U.S. government claims Amazon did wrong, the company’s response and how this lawsuit might affect you. Also read The Washington Post’s news article about the Amazon lawsuit, which will be updated throughout the day. Why is the government suing Amazon? At its core, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission v. Amazon is an alternative narrative about one...

Did you know that Jesus Christ was a racist? In a TikTok video, Reverend Brandan Robertson asserts that the Son of God used a racial slur. Robertson is an author, activist, public theologian, and the pastor of Missiongathering Christian Church in San Diego, California. This racist action supposedly takes place in Chapter 7 of the Gospel of Mark, when Jesus is sought out by a Syrophoenician woman in the district of Tyre. She begs Jesus to free her daughter from the demon that is possessing her. Robertson said that Jesus replied, “It’s not good for Me to give the children’s...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A federal judge on Friday rejected a motion from Google to toss out the government's antirust case against it. U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled the lawsuit alleging Google wields monopolistic power in the world of online advertising can proceed in its entirety. Her ruling is the second setback for Google at the federal court in Alexandria. Google had earlier tried to get the case consolidated with a similar lawsuit that's been ongoing for several years in New York. But Brinkema ruled last month that the case can proceed in the Alexandria courthouse, which is known as...

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said in his annual shareholder letter Tuesday that the government may need to seize private property to advance clean energy initiatives. Dimon discussed the need to quickly begin investing in solar projects and other green initiatives and suggested that the government should use eminent domain to seize property for those projects. “At the same time, permitting reforms are desperately needed to allow investment to be done in any kind of timely way. We may even need to evoke [sic] eminent domain – we simply are not getting the adequate investments fast enough for grid, solar,...

KEY POINTS The U.S. Justice Department filed its second antitrust lawsuit against Google in just over two years, this time targeting its advertising business. It’s the first Google lawsuit filed under the Biden administration and seeks to break up Google’s online advertising business. It comes soon after reports that DOJ Antitrust Division chief Jonathan Kanter had been cleared to work on Google matters. The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday filed its second antitrust lawsuit against Google in just over two years. It’s the latest sign that the U.S. government is not backing down from cases against tech firms even in...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Microsoft is likely to receive an EU antitrust warning about its $69 billion bid for "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard, people familiar with the matter said, that could pose another challenge to completing the deal. The European Commission is readying a charge sheet known as a statement of objections setting out its concerns about the deal which will be sent to Microsoft in the coming weeks, the people said. The EU antitrust watchdog, which has set an April 11 deadline for its decision on the deal, declined to comment. Microsoft said: "We're continuing to work with...

There’s bad news and there’s good news for Washington’s anti-monopoly movement. The bad news is that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has done precisely what many long feared he would: While rhetorically supporting two bipartisan antitrust bills targeting Big Tech for months, he effectively killed the effort by never bringing the legislative package for a vote on the Senate floor in the final days of the congressional term.... .....As a consolation, Schumer put an extra $85 million into the nation’s two antitrust enforcement agencies: $50 million to the Federal Trade Commission and $35 million to the Department of Justice’s Antitrust...

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is taking a victory lap after standing in the way of legislation that would increase fees on large company mergers, saying “antitrust zealots” are getting in the way of free market activity even as they hoard federal power. “To them, big is always bad. Except, of course, when it comes to the size and scope of government,” Mr. Paul wrote in an op-ed for Fox News. “These antitrust activists tried to rush legislation through the Senate that would give government more power over the economy.” Mr. Paul, a Republican and well-known libertarian, said he blocked...

The lovely and prolific Taylor Swift announced a concert tour. So far, so good. Happens every day. Ticketmaster opened up the ticket sales process, and sold 2 million tickets while fielding 3.5 billion requests – yes, 3.5 billion – before server crashes and other problems caused them to suspend sales. Taylor Swift is furious. Millions of fans are frustrated. Live Nation the parent of Ticketmaster, is embarrassed. And politicians – ranging from communist US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to conservative US Senator Mike Lee – are all demanding hearings. It’s easy to kid about the disproportionate attention this is getting in...

WASHINGTON — The government and publishing titan Penguin Random House exchanged opening salvos in a federal antitrust trial Monday as the U.S. seeks to block the biggest U.S. book publisher from absorbing rival Simon & Schuster. The case comes as a key test of the Biden administration’s antitrust policy. The Justice Department has sued to block the $2.2 billion merger, which would reduce the Big Five U.S. publishers to four. The government’s star witness, bestselling author Stephen King, is expected to testify at Tuesday’s session of the weekslong trial in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Mr. King’s works are...

Rumble is going to get to discovery in its anti-trust and damages lawsuit against Google. Discovery on Googke’s allegedly manipulated and anti-trust search algorithms. Everyone should appreciate just how huge this is.

WASHINGTON — About two dozen anti-Big Tech activists, some in costume, stalked a DC fundraiser hosted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday evening to demand that he call a vote on pending antitrust legislation. Schumer ended up hunkering down in the Kimpton George Hotel near the Capitol building until after the protest disbanded — as his guests filtered out and earnestly told the crowd that he already left. A person at the 5 p.m. fundraiser for Schumer’s Impact PAC said that the New York Democrat left the event at 5:56 p.m. — so most of the demonstrators returned...

An advocacy group has sent mobile billboards to Chuck Schumer’s DC and Brooklyn homes to convince the Senate majority leader to schedule a vote on bipartisan antitrust legislation that would curb the power of Big Tech platforms. The truck-mounted ads arrived at the Democrat’s residences on Saturday promoting MakeSchumerWatchJohnOliver.com, which hosts a 26-minute clip of the HBO host John Oliver promoting the legislation. “Everyone knows that Democrats are facing a tight election year, and I just don’t think that he can afford to fumble another major effort like this,” said Evan Greer, director of Fight for the Future, which paid...

Is there any corner of our government bureaucracy that isn’t overrun with woke, partisan operatives seeking to enact their political agendas? I think we all know the answer to that, and the latest example comes via the FTC moving to “investigate” Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter on…anti-trust grounds?This comes after Democrats and their media allies have spent the last few weeks absolutely losing their minds over the fact that conservatives might have a single platform that doesn’t bias their policies against them.Fox Business provides some of the details.The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is reviewing Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $44 billion...

The US Federal Trade Commission is reportedly reviewing Elon Musk's $44 billion Twitter buyout for potential antitrust concerns. The FTC now has 30 days to consider the deal and decide whether to issue a second request to probe the matter further, although most experts believe there are no antitrust concerns that could block the takeover, according to Bloomberg. However, the anti-monopoly activist group Open Markets Initiative, where Democratic FTC Chair Lina Khan used to work, has urged the agency to block the deal, saying that it 'poses immediate and direct threats to American democracy and free speech.'

This week shockwaves were sent through the liquor legal world when Privo filed an antitrust lawsuit against Southern Wine and Spirits (Southern) and Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC). The complaint takes aim at alleged anti-competitive behavior of Southern and RDNC acting together to destroy Provi’s business and create their own model based on Provi’s success. It shines a light on the concept of wholesalers behaving badly in the marketplace. [snip] Provi, started in 2016, gained momentum with its great and convenient service and signed up national accounts such as Chili’s, Red Robin, Benihana, P.F. Chang’s, Cinemark and AMC Theatres.