FTC antitrust hearings
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Single firm antitrust laws will come under scrutiny from FTC and the Department of Justice with a series of public hearings scheduled for 2006, FTC announces Nov. 28. The hearings, which will "examine whether and when specific types of single-firm conduct are pro-competitive or benign, and when they may harm consumers," are scheduled to begin in the Spring. "The stakes for consumers and our economy on this issue are high," FTC Chairperson Deborah Platt Majoras said. "Over-enforcement of the monopolization laws leads to high false positives that chills pro-competitive behavior that benefits consumers. Under-enforcement, however, may result in false negatives in which firms continue to engage in exclusionary conduct that harms consumers." FTC and DoJ will publish a notice in an upcoming Federal Register to solicit public comment on specific types of single firm conduct causing antitrust concern...