Fall 2022
The Network Law Review publishes four issues a year. Articles go online one by one and are gathered by season. This was the first issue. It closed with 18 publications.
Contents
Newest first19 December 2022
VIDEOS: Computational Antitrust, Implementing Antitrust 3.0
I am pleased to be sharing 12 videos discussing how to implement computational antitrust, the challenges, and potential the field creates. These videos present what the U.S. Department of Justice is doing in the space, question the future of due process in antitrust litigation, discuss the…
Read VIDEOS: Computational Antitrust, Implementing Antitrust 3.0Cite VIDEOS: Computational Antitrust, Implementing Antitrust 3.0
15 December 2022
The Constitutional Moment That Wasn’t: 1912-1914 and the Meaning of the Sherman Act
The Curse of Bigness sketches Tim Wu’s NeoBrandeisian vision. Wu invokes Learned Hand’s assertion that Congress preferred, “because of its indirect social or moral effect”, a “system of small producers, each dependent for his success upon his own skill and character” to one where nearly all “must…
Read The Constitutional Moment That Wasn’t: 1912-1914 and the Meaning of the Sherman ActCite The Constitutional Moment That Wasn’t: 1912-1914 and the Meaning of the Sherman Act
12 December 2022
Social Media vs. Social Network: Implications For Antitrust Law
The recently published Digital Markets Act (Regulation 2022/1925) applies to gatekeepers providing a “core platform service.” “[O]nline social networking services” are listed as one of these services (article 2); social media services are not.
Read Social Media vs. Social Network: Implications For Antitrust LawCite Social Media vs. Social Network: Implications For Antitrust Law
7 December 2022
Near-Decomposability as A Regenerative Process in Complex Social Phenomena
In complex systems, particularly when we study scalability, we address phenomena from “cells to societies”. The cell is an “ecology” of information (DNA) and chemical substances (also DNA) that self-organize in a biological entity.
Read Near-Decomposability as A Regenerative Process in Complex Social PhenomenaCite Near-Decomposability as A Regenerative Process in Complex Social Phenomena
2 December 2022
The USA’s Midterm Elections and Antitrust
For those observing American politics from abroad, the headline from the 2022 midterm elections was that the predicted “red wave” did not happen. The Republicans narrowly retook the House of Representatives but failed to re-take the Senate (where, pending a run-off election in Georgia, their…
Read The USA’s Midterm Elections and AntitrustCite The USA’s Midterm Elections and Antitrust
30 November 2022
The New Approach to Article 22 Referrals through an Ordoliberal Lens
On 11 September 2020, competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager announced a change of approach in case referrals to the Commission under Article 22 of the merger regulation (EUMR).
Read The New Approach to Article 22 Referrals through an Ordoliberal LensCite The New Approach to Article 22 Referrals through an Ordoliberal Lens
23 November 2022
The Not-So-Pathetic Dot Theory
Is the dot really that pathetic? The Pathetic Dot Theory Lawrence Lessig famously introduced the Pathetic Dot Theory in 1999; I quote: There are many ways to think about “regulation.” I want to think about it from the perspective of someone who is regulated, or, what is different, constrained.
Read The Not-So-Pathetic Dot TheoryCite The Not-So-Pathetic Dot Theory
21 November 2022
Mind The (Institutional) Gap: Digital Economy, Competition Law and The Toolkit Approach
Far from its depiction as a well-defined and linear techno-social phenomenon that developed incrementally over the last three decades following a consistent masterplan, the Internet of today has been transformed beyond recognition from its original version.
Read Mind The (Institutional) Gap: Digital Economy, Competition Law and The Toolkit ApproachCite Mind The (Institutional) Gap: Digital Economy, Competition Law and The Toolkit Approach
15 November 2022
Parker v. Brown, Legislative Immunity, and Anticompetitive State Regulation
William H. Page and John E. Lopatka
In a recent article, we examine the relationship between the state action (or Parker v. Brown) antitrust immunity and Eleventh Amendment constitutional immunity, two doctrines that in certain cases shelter state governmental entities and officials from federal antitrust liability.
Read Parker v. Brown, Legislative Immunity, and Anticompetitive State RegulationCite Parker v. Brown, Legislative Immunity, and Anticompetitive State Regulation
11 November 2022
Stanford CodeX Computational Antitrust 2nd annual conference
I am thrilled to announce the 2nd edition of the Stanford CodeX Computational Antitrust Project annual conference. We have a fantastic lineup of speakers waiting for you to discuss antitrust 3.0.
Read Stanford CodeX Computational Antitrust 2nd annual conferenceCite Stanford CodeX Computational Antitrust 2nd annual conference
7 November 2022
The Effect of Venture Funding on Killer Acquisitions
The subject of killer acquisitions is capturing the ever-increasing attention of antitrust scholars and agencies. Several reasons explain this trend. One, tech giants are generating gigantic profits that allow them to buy startups without feeling the burn.
Read The Effect of Venture Funding on Killer AcquisitionsCite The Effect of Venture Funding on Killer Acquisitions
3 November 2022
How Do Vertical Mergers Affect Innovation? Learning from Illumina
Illumina is significant because it illustrates emerging Antitrust law and policy toward vertical mergers. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sought to block Illumina’s proposed acquisition of Grail.
Read How Do Vertical Mergers Affect Innovation? Learning from IlluminaCite How Do Vertical Mergers Affect Innovation? Learning from Illumina
27 October 2022
Thomas W. Hazlett: The FTC’s Rendition of the “Cellophane Fallacy”
In the pending case of FTC v. Facebook, the Government alleges price increases for the “free” service. In this zero-price offering, the FTC argues that effective prices have been increased by Facebook by relaxing rules that protect against the use of personal information.
Read Thomas W. Hazlett: The FTC’s Rendition of the “Cellophane Fallacy”Cite Thomas W. Hazlett: The FTC’s Rendition of the “Cellophane Fallacy”
21 October 2022
Too Much, Too Many: The Principle of International Comity in Digital Markets
Enforcement is key to understanding an effective application of competition law. In digital markets, as much as in any other sector, competition authorities must deal with the extraterritoriality of business conducts and mergers to enforce their decisions effectively.
Read Too Much, Too Many: The Principle of International Comity in Digital MarketsCite Too Much, Too Many: The Principle of International Comity in Digital Markets
12 October 2022
The Antitrust API
Computational antitrust promises not only to help antitrust agencies preside over increasingly complex and dynamic markets, but also to provide companies with the tools to assess and enforce compliance with antitrust laws.
3 October 2022
Blockchain and The Law: A Reading List
Last April, I published a Twitter thread exploring some of my favorite articles dealing with blockchain and the law. I have decided to reproduce the list in the present article. 1– Philip E. Agre, “P2P and the Promise of Internet Equality,” Communication of the ACM 46, no. 2 (2003): groundbreaking…
Read Blockchain and The Law: A Reading ListCite Blockchain and The Law: A Reading List
27 September 2022
Legal Dynamism
Alex ‘Sandy’ Pentland and Robert Mahari
Shortly after the start of the French Revolution, Thomas Jefferson wrote a now famous letter to James Madison. He argued that no society could make a perpetual constitution, or indeed a perpetual law, that binds future generations. Every law ought to expire after nineteen years.
23 September 2022
Response to Professor Jonathan B. Baker On The Competitive Process Goal
I read with interest the essay of Professor Jonathan Baker, A Competitive Process Goal Won’t Strengthen Antitrust. The essay catalogues the dangers and pitfalls of using “protection of the competitive process” as the standard for antitrust violations. Professor Baker attributes this standard to me.
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