#antitrust

#antitrust

We need to take a deep breath and understand it's like a meteor coming,

Sometimes a term is so apt, its meaning so clear and so relevant to our circumstances, that it becomes more than just a useful buzzword and grows to define an entire moment," the columnist Kyle Chayka writes, in a review of Cory Doctorow's book "Enshittification.

In May 2021, Apple introduced App Tracking Transparency (ATT), a privacy feature that lets users choose whether apps can track their activity across other companies' apps and websites for advertising or data-sharing purposes. Following the rollout of the feature, cross-app and cross-site tracking declined sharply, with at least one study reporting a 54.7% drop in tracking rates in the United States alone.

Apple has abused its dominant position by charging app developers unfair commissions, a London tribunal has ruled, in a blow that could leave the United States tech company on the hook for hundreds of millions of pounds in damages. On Thursday, the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruled against Apple after a trial of the lawsuit, which was brought on behalf of millions of iPhone and iPad users in the United Kingdom.

"Royalty-free" is an appealing notion, especially when applied to the licensing of a patent essential to a standard. This standard is even more compelling to an implementer when every participant in the relevant standards body or proprietary consortia, including preeminent technology companies, has pledged it will grant its essential patents on a royalty-free (RF) basis. What could be better than an entire ecosystem around a standard or proprietary solution and its implementation being bound by an RF pledge?

ChatGPT prices were inflated since the service's inception, with price levels reaching an eye-popping 100 to 200 times competitors' prices on a per-token basis amidst a February 2025 price war. A secretive agreement struck between OpenAI and Microsoft early in OpenAI's development allowed Microsoft to control the supply of compute to its horizontal competitor's products. It used an exclusivity clause to restrict OpenAI's product output, and to impose a price-or, conversely, output and quality-floor on its competitor OpenAI's ChatGPT products.

If your organisation has used Windows Server on Google, Amazon or Alibaba's cloud platforms at any point since December 2018, you have likely paid too much money, " Dr Stasi said.

China's competition regulator has launched an investigation into Qualcomm's purchase of Israeli firm Autotalks, the latest salvo in the escalating tech trade war between Washington and Beijing. The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) described its probe as routine, according to state-run broadcaster CGTN, yet the timing is pointed. It came as China tightened exports of rare earth metals last Thursday, ratcheting up tensions with the US.

Zea runs www.snapflatfee.com, a brokerage that charges sellers a listing fee in exchange for limited services.

The CMA confirmed that Google dominates general search and advertising, giving it a strategic position in the UK market where it handles over 90% of searches. The designation includes AI-based features such as AI Overviews and AI Mode. However, it excludes Google's Gemini AI assistant, although the CMA will continue to review this as the market evolves. CMA Executive Director for Digital Markets Will Hayter emphasized that the designation enables the CMA to pursue proportionate interventions to maintain open competition.

a time investment on our end to keep it going (replying to questions over and over again).

"Mehta, who found that Google has monopolized search and search advertising, is crafting a remedy to resolve the company's illegal conduct. In a decision last month, he ruled that Google could no longer pay companies to exclusively use its Search, Chrome web browser or Google Play Store, though he declined to bar all payments outright. Mehta's ruling incorporated aspects of proposals from Google and the Justice Department, which led to Wednesday's hearing where both sides argued for him to adopt their language in a final order."

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a Statement of Interest on Monday in Disney Enterprises, Inc. v. InterDigital, Inc., et al., an antitrust case filed by Disney in August 2025 that alleged "abusive licensing practices," monopolization of the video compression and streaming markets and Sherman Act violations by InterDigital. The DOJ's statement opined that patents, including standard essential patents (SEPs), do not necessarily confer market power to the patentee.

The lawsuit centers on two Optimal Blue tools launched in 2019, Competitive Analytics and Competitive Data License, which require lenders to share an unprecedented quantity and quality of non-public, competitively sensitive, granular, real-time data covering every component of their residential Mortgage Pricing and profit margins. Plaintiffs allege this data-sharing arrangement the price of admission to this cartel allowed lenders to coordinate pricing rather than compete, effectively inflating rates and margins.

Germany's Federal Cartel Office on Wednesday announced an investigation into Chinese e-commerce giant Temu, saying it wanted to examine conditions for traders and the company's treatment of the suppliers it relies upon to sell products. "Each month more than 100 million users from European marketplaces visit temu.com," Andreas Mundt, the president of the competition watchdog, said in a statement.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, scored a legal victory Tuesday when a federal judge in San Francisco dismissed a lawsuit accusing the Menlo Park tech firm of misleading users about its privacy practices to maintain its social media dominance. U.S. District Judge James Donato granted Meta's request for a summary judgment halting a trial that had been scheduled for November, according to Reuters. The ruling came after the court barred a key expert witness for the plaintiffs, effectively leaving them unable to demonstrate any damages.

Like the FTC's suit, this lawsuit alleges that Zillow has no interest in continuing to compete with Redfin on the merits of its rental advertising offering. Instead, on February 6, 2025, Zillow and Redfin executed an unlawful agreement to remove competition from this already highly concentrated market, starting with a $100 million payment to Redfin to exit the Internet Listing Services advertising market, the complaint states.