Antitrust Experts Engage Debate (Virtually) Merits of FTC’s Use of Section 5 Authority in Intel Case
Over the past few weeks an online debate has been brewing between antitrust scholars over the FTC case against Intel. The focus of the debate has been the FTC's decision to pursue most of its case using its Section 5 authority to prevent "unfair and deceptive" practices, rather than its Section 2 authority for combating anti-competitive behavior. The discussion began with a piece by Bob Litan, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department in the Clinton Administration, entitled "The FTC's Radical Application of Section 5." As the title suggests, Litan has some serious concerns about the FTC's case in general and its application of Section 5. It's a pretty compelling piece that I recommend to all you antitrust geeks, but if you're short on time/attention span I'll try to summarize.
This Week in Antitrust
This week's look at antitrust news features a group of liquid-crystal display panel manufacturers accused of conspiring to fix prices, the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust investigation of Intel and the effects it will have on the computer industry, [...]