#antitrust

#antitrust

Why Alphabet performed well this year Alphabet actually didn't start the year strong. However, at least two things happened that helped it reverse course. First, Alphabet posted excellent financial results. The company's work in cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) has been tremendously helpful. The tech leader is showing that, despite competition from AI chatbots, it remains the leader in search, while providing in-demand AI services through the cloud.

After the merger, The Capitol Forum's analysis showed that Compass would control 30% or more of local brokerage markets across the U.S. from Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles on the West Coast to Boston, parts of New York City and Washington, D.C. on the East Coast. The combined brokerages would have market dominance in markets like Honolulu, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Greenwich, Connecticut, Newport Beach and Los Gatos, California, Denver, St. Louis, Houston and Austin.

How do you quantify the abuse of a company's power in its chosen industry? We're seeing one answer to that question in Italy this week, where the Italian Competition Authority has issued a fine to Apple over "abuse of a dominant position" related to the tech company's App Store. The fine that's been levied is a very specific €98,635,416.67, which translates to $116,000,725.26 at the current rate of exchange.

The goal, of course, is to avoid the abuses that can happen in monopolies and with the goal of protecting consumer choice and protecting innovation. What happened was that iRobot and Amazon came together for the expressed purpose of creating more innovation, more consumer choice, at a time when iRobot's trajectory was honestly different from where it was several years earlier.

In reversing the Southern District of New York dismissal for lack of standing, a split three-judge circuit panel allowed the streaming and satellite TV company to proceed with its federal claims. Lost profits resulting from a reduction in output represent a cognizable antitrust injury, and DirecTV plausibly alleges that its lost profits flowed directly from the output-reducing effects of the alleged price-fixing conspiracy, U.S. Circuit Judge Steven Menashi wrote in an opinion joined by U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin.

I think the people that have run CNN for the last long period of time are a disgrace. I think it's imperative that CNN be sold. Because you certainly wouldn't want to put people-, just leave those people with some money, good money at CNN so that, you know, they could spend even more money spreading poison. Because it's lies, it's a disgrace.

If Paramount prevails in its $108 billion hostile bid for Warner Bros., it wouldn't need approval from the FCC or Congress, but the contact reflects a broad-based Washington campaign to shore up support for a deal. A Paramount-Warner Bros. tie-up would still face an extended antitrust review around the world. And it would likely have an easier time than Netflix Inc., at least with the federal government in Washington, analysts said.

Paramount Skydance on Monday launched a hostile bid worth $108.4 billion US for Warner Bros. Discovery, throwing a wrench into the deal with Netflix in a last-ditch effort to create a media powerhouse that would challenge the dominance of the streaming giant. Paramount submitted multiple offers starting in September to forge an entertainment powerhouse capable of challenging Netflix and tech giants such as Apple that have expanded into media but faced rejections.

No doubt Netflix is the default streaming service,

"We should not be reducing theatrical windows, we should be expanding. This is how the filmmaker wants you to see his film, and everybody else can wait for it. I don't care what happens. When you're going directly to streaming, it diminishes the importance of a film. The theatrical experience elevates the importance. The way you present it to the world is a very important thing."

Catch up quick: Trump issued an executive order Saturday directing the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to establish task forces on anti-competitive behavior in the food supply chain. The order specifically directs them to look at "whether control of food-related industries by foreign entities is increasing the cost of food products in the United States or creating a national or economic security threat to Americans." The task forces are expected to brief congressional leaders within six months.

On Friday, a federal judge ordered Google to limit all default search and AI app contracts to one year, a setback for the long-term deals that have helped cement the company's dominance on billions of devices. The ruling, detailed in a December 2025 judgment, requires Alphabet's Google to renegotiate every default-placement agreement annually, including lucrative deals with Apple's iPhone and manufacturers like Samsung.