From the perspective of an economist formerly at the FTC for nearly a decade:
1. Antitrust cases can be initiated in many ways. Almost every state has an antitrust law similar to the federal law. Any of these states can initiate an antitrust suit on their own. The federal statutes also allow individuals to file antitrust suits on their own.
2. All U.S. antitrust cases, no matter how they originate, are ultimately tested in the courts against the same set of precedents.
3. Both the FTC and DOJ know of this case. They most likely concluded an antitrust violation was unlikely after taking a quick look. I give this some weight because federal antitrust analysis got quite a bit more sophisticated around three decades ago. Others less so.
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from a former antitruster
1. Antitrust cases can be initiated in many ways. Almost every state has an antitrust law similar to the federal law. Any of these states can initiate an antitrust suit on their own. The federal statutes also allow individuals to file antitrust suits on their own.
2. All U.S. antitrust cases, no matter how they originate, are ultimately tested in the courts against the same set of precedents.
3. Both the FTC and DOJ know of this case. They most likely concluded an antitrust violation was unlikely after taking a quick look. I give this some weight because federal antitrust analysis got quite a bit more sophisticated around three decades ago. Others less so.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by gametheoryman.
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