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Google said the new DOJ case, filed jointly with eight states last month, which also alleges advertising-related abuses, overlaps with multidistrict litigation in New York that formed in 2021. Google has disputed the claims in the new lawsuit, saying it "duplicates an unfounded" one that Texas filed and now is part of the New York litigation. "They just want DOJ versus Google, nobody else," Vladeck said. Fox also said there is a new federal law that gives state plaintiffs their preference for venue in antitrust litigation. The case is In re Google Digital Advertising Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 1:21-md-03010-PKC.

☆ Alphabet set to report fourth-quarter results after the close
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Google parent Alphabet will report fourth-quarter earnings Thursday after the close of regular trading. Revenue: $76.53 billion, according to Refinitiv estimates. $76.53 billion, according to Refinitiv estimates. $8.25 billion, according to StreetAccount estimates. $7.43 billion, according to StreetAccount estimates.

☆ The DOJ's antitrust case against Google is ambitious but risky
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

But alongside the possibility of great reward comes significant risk in seeking to push the boundaries of antitrust law. "All antitrust cases are an uphill battle for plaintiffs, thanks to 40 years of case law," said Rebecca Haw Allensworth, an antitrust professor at Vanderbilt Law School. But, Allensworth added, the government's challenges may be different than those in many other antitrust cases. Like all antitrust cases, this one is unlikely to be concluded anytime soon. "This is clearly the blockbuster case so far from the DOJ antitrust division," Francis said.

☆ U.S. Justice Department addresses antitrust litigation against Google's advertising tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailU.S. Justice Department addresses antitrust litigation against Google's advertising techUnited States Attorney General Merrick Garland holds a press on the litigation against Google's advertising technology, addressing Google's efforts to squash competition, and the antitrust implications of the case.

☆ DOJ sues Google over its dominance in online advertising market
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The Justice Department and eight states sued Google on Tuesday, accusing the company of harming competition with its dominance in the online advertising market and calling for it to be broken up. The move marks the Biden administration’s first blockbuster antitrust case against a Big Tech company. Having inserted itself into all aspects of the digital advertising marketplace, Google has used anticompetitive, exclusionary, and unlawful means to eliminate or severely diminish any threat to its dominance over digital advertising technologies.”The suit was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Tuesday’s suit marks the federal government’s second antitrust complaint against Google since 2020, when the Trump administration sued over Google’s alleged anticompetitive harms in search and search advertising. Third-party estimates suggest that Google and Facebook (now known as Meta) accounted for the majority of US digital ad revenues until about 2017, with Google taking about a third of the market.

☆ Live Nation president apologizes to Taylor Swift and her fans for ticketing fiasco and says the industry is still competitive
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Live Nation president and CFO Joe Berchtold apologized to Taylor Swift and fans for the ticket debacle. Berchtold said that the company faced bot attacks during the Swift ticket sale, impacting service, and apologized to Swift and fans. This power over the entire live entertainment industry allows Live Nation to maintain its monopolistic interests over the primary ticketing market," Groetzinger said. "This is all a definition of monopoly, because Live Nation is so powerful that it doesn't even need to exert pressure," Klobuchar said. Lawrence, who's written for the New York Times on Live Nation and its impact on artists, said Live Nation often functions as three different things: promoter, venue, and ticketing company.

☆ Satya Nadella doesn't expect spending to be very strong for the next couple of years, says Gil Luria
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailSatya Nadella doesn't expect spending to be very strong for the next couple of years, says Gil LuriaGil Luria, senior software analyst at DA Davidson, joins 'Power Lunch' to discuss expectations for Microsoft's earnings report, the payoff for Microsoft's investment in OpenAi in the short and long term, and the potential consequences of antitrust litigations against Google.

☆ Novartis to pay $245 mln to end antitrust cases over Exforge drug generics
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NEW YORK, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Novartis AG (NOVN.S) said on Wednesday it will pay $245 million to end antitrust litigation accusing the Swiss drugmaker of trying to delay the launch in the United States of generic versions of its Exforge hypertension drug. The class-action litigation stemmed from a 2011 licensing agreement between Novartis and Endo International Plc's (ENDPQ.PK) Par Pharmaceutical unit. Novartis's annual U.S. sales of brand-name Exforge exceeded $400 million before generic versions were sold, court papers show. The case is In re Novartis and Par Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Bradley PerrettOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"It's a combination of the FTC and (Justice Department) being willing to litigate and the fact that companies are fighting back," Grosberg said. More recently, they have lost four attempts to block mergers in court, though they are appealing two of the cases. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Break-up fees that acquirers agree to pay their targets if their deal gets shot down by antitrust regulators are also on the rise. Many companies facing merger challenges say they will fight on, emboldened by the four court losses of the Justice Department and FTC.

☆ Why the Taylor Swift debacle could lead to renewed scrutiny of the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Lawmakers and Swifties are calling for the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger to be reexamined. The Department of Justice was reportedly investigating the merger prior to the Eras Tour madness. Now, the Department of Justice is reportedly investigating the Ticketmaster/Live Nation merger, a probe that began even before the Eras Tour debacle. That's the kind of merger critics argue happened with Live Nation and Ticketmaster. Live Nation has not incurred any of those penalties.

☆ More than two dozen Taylor Swift fans sue Ticketmaster
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

More than two dozen Taylor Swift fans are suing Ticketmaster parent Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. for “unlawful conduct” in the pop star’s chaotic tour sale, claiming the ticketing giant violated antitrust laws, among others. The lawsuit, filed in a California court on Friday, alleges Ticketmaster and its parent company were anti-competitive, imposing higher prices on fans in the presale, sale and resale market. The lawsuit also claimed that since Ticketmaster has agreements with the large stadiums in the tour, Swift “has no choice” but to work with Ticketmaster due to the size of her fan base. It also alleges that Ticketmaster profits off the resale of tickets in the secondary market by adding a service fee to its fan-to-fan exchange. Pre-sale tickets for “The Eras Tour” frustrated Swift fans across the country in a debacle that stayed in the headlines for weeks.

☆ 3 senators call for DOJ to potentially unwind the Ticketmaster and Live Nation merger: 'High prices and labyrinth-like ticketing process for Taylor Swift's Eras tour are clear examples of the harms co
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"The high prices and labyrinth-like ticketing process for Taylor Swift's Eras tour are clear examples of the harms consumers face in an anti-competitive ticketing market," the senators write. Live Nation Entertainment has said that it "does not engage in behaviors that could justify antitrust litigation, let alone orders that would require it to alter fundamental business practices." The DOJ and Live Nation Entertainment did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on the letter. UMAW is also pushing for the merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster to be unwound. Put simply, artists, venues, and consumers should no longer be at the mercy of a single seller."

☆ Ticketmaster apologizes to Taylor Swift and her fans for ticketing debacle
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Frank Pallotta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN Business —Ticketmaster apologized to Taylor Swift and her fans late Friday night after a ticketing debacle this week that made it difficult for consumers to buy tickets to the pop star’s new tour. “We want to apologize to Taylor and all of her fans — especially those who had a terrible experience trying to purchase tickets,” the ticketing site said in the blog post. “Once we get through that, if there are any next steps, updates will be shared accordingly,” it wrote. The mea culpa comes after Swift spoke out earlier on Friday about how the situation was “excruciating” for her to watch as it unfolded into chaos. Customers complained on social media about Ticketmaster not loading, saying the platform didn’t allow them to access tickets, even if they had a pre-sale code for verified fans.

[1/3] Taylor Swift poses on the red carpet for the 2022 MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) at the PSD Bank Dome in Duesseldorf, Germany, November 13, 2022. The company said it is working to shore up its technology "for the new bar that has been set by demand for the Taylor Swift's Eras Tour". Chaos around the Swift tour prompted calls for the U.S. government to break up the company. For those who did not get tickets to the Eras tour, Swift said her hope was to provide "more opportunities for us to all get together and sing these songs." She has promised hits from albums spanning her career on the Eras tour.

The antitrust plaintiffs' lawyers, Shana Scarlett of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro and Stephen Swedlow of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, on Monday did not immediately reply to a message seeking comment. A Facebook spokesperson did not immediately comment about whether the settlement might affect the antitrust case. The privacy settlement wrapped up allegations that Facebook continued to track users' web activity despite being logged out of the site. Facebook denied the privacy claims, and the company is fighting the allegations in the antitrust case. In the antitrust case, plaintiffs' lawyers at Hagens Berman and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart had asked Davila to include a sentence saying the resolution of the privacy settlement doesn't impact the antitrust litigation.

AbbVie and lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The lawsuit claims the settlements were so-called "pay for delay" deals that violated competition laws in 30 states and resulted in higher prices. The generic companies previously settled with the health plans for a combined $2 million. Allergan previously reached a $750 million settlement of antitrust allegations brought by direct purchasers of Namenda, such as drug distributors. The case is In re Namenda Indirect Purchaser Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

☆ U.S. jury finds Credit Suisse did not rig forex market
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Credit Suisse was the last bank defendant remaining in the class action brought by currency investors in 2013, after 15 others reached settlements worth $2.31 billion. The investors allege that Credit Suisse traders shared nonpublic pricing information with traders at other banks. Credit Suisse traders participated in more than 100 chat rooms and shared information about the spread between the buy and sell price for currencies every other day, he said. Attorneys for Credit Suisse argued that such infrequent communication could not influence the market, that traders chatting about different currency pairs could not be part of the same conspiracy, and that there was no evidence Credit Suisse traders ever acted on the chats. Credit Suisse in July settled with some investors, including BlackRock Inc and Allianz SE's Pimco, which chose to "opt out" of the class litigation.

The investors allege that Credit Suisse traders shared nonpublic pricing information with traders at other banks. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe jury will decide whether Credit Suisse participated in a conspiracy or multiple conspiracies to rig the foreign currency market, and if so, how long each scheme lasted and which of the 15 other banks were involved. "There was a culture of collusion at Credit Suisse," he said, adding that chat room transcripts show the bank's traders sharing information about the spread between the buy and sell price for currencies "every other day." Credit Suisse's attorney Herbert Washer argued that traders chatting in separate rooms about different currency pairs could not be part of the same conspiracy, and that there was no evidence Credit Suisse traders ever acted on the chats. The case is In Re Foreign Exchange Benchmark Rates Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

Investors have accused Credit Suisse traders of sharing nonpublic pricing information with traders at other banks, including in chat rooms with names such as "Yen Cartel." "Trust the chats, the chats will tell you what happened when," Christopher Burke said during opening statements in Manhattan federal court. The jury will decide whether there was a conspiracy to rig the foreign currency market, and whether Credit Suisse was involved in one or more schemes. Some investors including BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) and Allianz SE's (ALVG.DE) Pimco chose to "opt out" of the investor litigation. The case is In Re Foreign Exchange Benchmark Rates Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No.

☆ Smithfield Foods to pay $75 mln in pork price-fixing settlement
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sept 27 (Reuters) - Smithfield Foods Inc has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a lawsuit by consumers who accused the meat producer and several competitors of conspiring to inflate prices in the $20 billion-a-year U.S. pork market by limiting supply. The accord follows the judge's Sept. 14 approval of a similar $20 million settlement between consumers and JBS SA (JBSS3.SA), one of Smithfield's largest rivals. The Smithfield, Virginia-based company, a unit of WH Group Ltd (0288.HK), denied liability but settled to avoid the uncertainty, risk and cost of litigation, settlement papers show. In the pork litigation, Smithfield previously reached settlements of $83 million with so-called "direct" purchasers such as Maplevale Farms and $42 million with commercial purchasers, a group that includes restaurants. The case is In re Pork Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota, No.

HermèsHermès was hit with a proposed class-action antitrust lawsuit on Tuesday over what litigants allege is an illegal requirement for Birkin hopefuls to purchase ancillary products from the brand. Susan Scafidi, the director at Fordham University's Fashion Law Institute, told BI it would be difficult for plaintiffs to prove that Hermès' has a "lockstep policy" on how much a customer should purchase to access a Birkin or how sales associates determine who gets a bag. Melissa K. Dagodag, an attorney specializing in business law, also told BI that the lawsuit would be difficult to prove. "Maybe Birkin bags will become less of a status symbol and more of an 'I'm a sucker' symbol, casting buyers in some kind of unintended dark light," Dagodag told BI. "In other words, there may never be a better time for an ordinary customer with thousands to spend on a bag to go shopping," Scafidi told BI.

Persons: Hermès, Birkin, Gross, he's, Susan Scafidi, Melissa K, Dagodag, Scafidi Organizations: Fordham University's Fashion Law, Lawyers

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