US FTC tries again to stop Microsoft's already-closed deal for Activision
US FTC tries again to stop Microsoft's already-closed deal for Activision
Time to split Microsoft up
Antitrust is not a word our gov knows anymore
The FTC is fighting an uphill battle, given that it lost the lower-court fight and that the EU and Britain have signed off on the deal.
I mean, the lower court fight makes it an uphill battle, sure -- they're appealing a ruling. But the EU and UK regulatory positions aren't going to be an input to US courts -- that doesn't make it any harder to get US courts to agree to block it.
They did kind of matter to US proceedings purely on the fact that if they hadn't cleared regulatory issues elsewhere, the deal wouldn't have already happened.
The fact that the deal already happened will make it substantially more difficult to succeed, because now you don't have to stop a deal; you have to unravel an already completed one.
Look, I get it, Microsoft buying Actiblizz is bad for competition and growth, but any argument saying its a monopoly is plainly false. Microsoft+Actiblizz doesnt even make up half of the available content in the gaming world, and im not counting steam trash or vis novels. In the gaming world a title by an idie studio could come out of nowhere and outperform any game put forth by the big 6 (now 5) companies.
This is a straw man. Nobody is saying they're a monopoly. They're saying Microsoft has a history of anti competitive behavior.
NOT EVEN HALF?? That's your bar??? Imagine a single other industry that's that monopolized Jesus, even internet companies have like 3 options and are each horrendous with their 33%