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FTC

Reports: Microsoft under new antitrust scrutiny over Inflection deal and AI dominance

by Taylor Soper on June 5, 2024June 6, 2024 at 8:09 am

Microsoft is facing a pair of new antitrust probes from the Federal Trade Commission, according to reports Wednesday evening from The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. The FTC… Read More

Sued by FTC, bill payment company Doxo disputes ‘unjust’ allegations of deceptive billing

by Todd Bishop on April 26, 2024April 26, 2024 at 7:47 am

A lawsuit by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission alleges that Seattle-based bill payment company Doxo has repeatedly deceived consumers into thinking it’s an official channel for the companies they’re seeking… Read More

FTC bans all new non-compete clauses and strikes down most existing agreements

by Lisa Stiffler on April 23, 2024April 23, 2024 at 2:26 pm

Goodbye, non-competes. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission today released its final rules addressing non-compete clauses by banning all future agreements. Non-competes have traditionally restricted workers from taking jobs with a… Read More

Zulily sues Amazon, alleging that price-fixing and supplier coercion sank its attempts to compete

by Todd Bishop on December 11, 2023December 13, 2023 at 7:11 am

Updated with Amazon statement. Less than a week after cutting hundreds of jobs and signaling its intent to go out of business, online retailer Zulily filed suit against Amazon on… Read More

Amazon asks court to toss FTC case, saying its practices are ‘the essence of competition’

by Todd Bishop on December 11, 2023December 11, 2023 at 11:48 am

Amazon defended the business practices targeted by the Federal Trade Commission as “the essence of competition” and asked a federal judge to dismiss the case in its first legal response… Read More

Amazon restructures seller fees to match its regional fulfillment strategy amid FTC lawsuit

by Todd Bishop on December 5, 2023December 5, 2023 at 10:18 am

Amazon says it will change the way it charges sellers who use its fulfillment services, introducing a new fee designed to give sellers a financial incentive to ship products to… Read More

Jeff Bezos

FTC vs. Amazon: Filing reveals more claims about Bezos’ alleged role, Project Nessie, and more

by Todd Bishop on November 2, 2023November 3, 2023 at 7:41 am

An updated version of the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust complaint against Amazon was filed Thursday morning in U.S. District Court in Seattle, making public many (but not all) of the… Read More

Report: FTC alleges Amazon tested price increases as part of secret ‘Project Nessie’

by Todd Bishop on October 4, 2023October 4, 2023 at 7:25 am

The Federal Trade Commission alleges that Amazon’s “Project Nessie” was designed to gauge the impact of its product price increases on the broader retail market, monitoring whether its rivals followed… Read More

Podcast

Unpacking the FTC’s case vs. Amazon: What the landmark suit means for the e-commerce empire

by Todd Bishop on September 30, 2023October 4, 2023 at 7:23 am

The outcome of the Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit against Amazon could be years away. But there’s a chance we’re already seeing the impact of antitrust scrutiny in the e-commerce giant’s… Read More

FTC’s case against Amazon hinges on internal messages and secrets yet to be revealed

by Todd Bishop on September 27, 2023October 4, 2023 at 7:24 am

What lurks beneath all that blacked-out text? That’s the immediate question for anyone reading the Federal Trade Commission’s landmark antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, filed Tuesday in federal court in Seattle.… Read More

FTC targets alleged secret Amazon pricing algorithm ‘Project Nessie’ in antitrust complaint

by Todd Bishop on September 26, 2023October 4, 2023 at 7:24 am

The Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust lawsuit against Amazon alleges, for the first time publicly, that the company used a secret pricing algorithm known internally as “Project Nessie” to compete unfairly… Read More

Analysis: Legal battle is only the first step to success in Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision

by Thomas Wilde on July 11, 2023July 12, 2023 at 4:12 pm

Microsoft on Tuesday cleared a significant hurdle to its $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, as a federal judge sided with the company in a legal battle with the Federal… Read More

Microsoft wins pivotal court ruling over FTC, clearing key hurdle for $69B Activision deal

by Todd Bishop on July 11, 2023July 11, 2023 at 9:11 am

A federal judge sided with Microsoft on Tuesday in a setback for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s attempt to block the tech giant’s $68.7 billion acquisition of video-game publisher Activision… Read More

What we learned from Microsoft vs. the FTC in tech giant’s battle to acquire Activision Blizzard

by Thomas Wilde on June 30, 2023June 30, 2023 at 4:27 pm

From the start, Microsoft’s hearing against the US Federal Trade Commission was going to be interesting to anyone who follows the business end of the video games industry. As previously… Read More

FTC sues Amazon, alleging it duped consumers into buying hard-to-cancel Prime subscriptions

by Lisa Stiffler on June 21, 2023June 21, 2023 at 11:22 am

The Federal Trade Commission is suing Amazon for allegedly duping customers into signing up for subscriptions to its Prime service and making it unnecessarily difficult for them to cancel. “Amazon… Read More

Microsoft to pay $20M FTC fine over Xbox child account data collection practices

by Todd Bishop on June 6, 2023June 6, 2023 at 8:46 am

Microsoft will pay a $20 million fine and change its account verification process for Xbox gamers under 13 as part of a proposed settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. The… Read More

UK’s rejection of $69B Activision Blizzard deal leaves Microsoft fighting battles on two continents

by Thomas Wilde & Todd Bishop on April 26, 2023April 26, 2023 at 6:15 am

Fifteen months after Microsoft started its journey to join forces with Activision Blizzard, another boss is now standing in its way. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued a… Read More

FTC wants to ban non-compete clauses that keep workers from changing jobs, launching startups

by Lisa Stiffler on January 5, 2023April 23, 2024 at 12:53 pm

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission released a proposal banning existing and future non-compete clauses that can restrict workers from taking jobs with a competitor or starting a competing business. Supporters… Read More

Microsoft says it offered to enter ‘Call of Duty’ consent decree with FTC for Activision deal

by Todd Bishop on December 13, 2022December 13, 2022 at 4:35 pm

Microsoft’s last-ditch effort to avoid an Federal Trade Commission lawsuit over its $69 billion Activision-Blizzard deal included an offer to enter a legally binding consent decree to make “Call of… Read More

FTC is suing Microsoft to block $69 billion Activision deal

by Taylor Soper on December 8, 2022December 8, 2022 at 12:06 pm

The Federal Trade Commission is suing Microsoft over its $69 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard, putting what would be the company’s largest acquisition ever in jeopardy. In a press… Read More

Surprise: Amazon spent less than $500M on M&A in 2021, one of its lowest totals in recent years

by Todd Bishop on February 21, 2022February 21, 2022 at 11:01 am

Amazon joined other tech companies in a huge corporate buying spree last year, right? Well, it depends on how you count it. The widely reported numbers are based on acquisition… Read More

Rocket engines at Aerojet Rocketdyne in Redmond
News Brief

Lockheed Martin kills plans for acquiring Aerojet Rocketdyne after FTC blocks deal

by Alan Boyle on February 14, 2022February 14, 2022 at 8:43 am

Lockheed Martin says it’s terminating its agreement to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne, less than a month after the Federal Trade Commission filed suit to block the $4.4 billion deal. In a… Read More

Aerojet Rocketdyne engines
News Brief

Lockheed Martin’s acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne faces limbo after FTC files suit

by Alan Boyle on January 26, 2022January 26, 2022 at 4:16 pm

The Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit to block Lockheed Martin’s $4.4 billion acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne, saying that the deal would “give Lockheed the ability to cut off… Read More

News publishers, including Seattle group, sue Google and Facebook over market dominance

by Mike Lewis on December 7, 2021December 8, 2021 at 10:20 am

A group of 30 newspaper publishers, including Seattle-based Robinson Newspapers, have sued Google and Facebook over the way the social and search giants profit from news content at the expense… Read More

Zillow Group faces antitrust scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers over $500M ShowingTime acquisition

by Taylor Soper on August 13, 2021August 13, 2021 at 1:49 pm

Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) sent a letter on Thursday to the FTC that raises antitrust questions related to the residential real estate industry and specifically… Read More

Elizabeth Warren says Amazon-MGM deal requires ‘meticulous antitrust scrutiny’ in letter to FTC

by Mike Lewis on June 29, 2021June 30, 2021 at 9:26 am

In a letter sent to Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, Sen. Elizabeth Warren asserted that Amazon’s billion-dollar bid for MGM might harm consumers and extend Amazon’s market dominance beyond… Read More

Review of Amazon-MGM deal will be led by FTC, now chaired by Big Tech critic Lina Khan

by Mike Lewis on June 22, 2021June 22, 2021 at 12:54 pm

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission — not the Department of Justice — is expected to lead the investigation into Amazon’s proposed $8.5 billion purchase of MGM Studios, according to a… Read More

Heads up, Big Tech: Lina Khan, Amazon’s antitrust adversary, will chair FTC

by Taylor Soper on June 15, 2021June 15, 2021 at 2:02 pm

Watch out, Amazon and other tech giants. The White House has picked Lina Khan as chair of the Federal Trade Commission. Khan, 32, was confirmed by the Senate earlier Tuesday… Read More

Amazon’s antitrust adversary: What Lina Khan’s Senate hearing reveals about Big Tech’s future

by Monica Nickelsburg on April 21, 2021April 21, 2021 at 10:50 am

A decades-long policy of lax regulation of the technology industry could be coming to a close — and Lina Khan is ready to usher in a new era. The rising… Read More

News Brief

Labor unions ask FTC to look into Amazon for ‘anti-competitive practices’

by Monica Nickelsburg on February 27, 2020February 27, 2020 at 2:43 pm

A coalition of labor unions — including truck drivers, food workers, and service employees — is pressuring the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Amazon for anti-competitive behavior. Change to Win,… Read More

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