4 ms·

I wonder if Lina Khan will be able to finally get her anti-trust case through against Google. It’s interesting how the judges in Apple vs Epic stayed with Big

by nojvek 3y ago

I wonder if Lina Khan will be able to finally get her anti-trust case through against Google. It’s interesting how the judges in Apple vs Epic stayed with Big Tech, same with Microsoft on the Blizzard acquisition. Almost if the Judges are scared of Big Tech but the Jury composed of lay people see the monopoly for what it is.

giblfiz 3y ago
>It’s interesting how the judges in Apple vs Epic stayed with Big Tech My thought is that the judges are likely staying with the "letter of the law" which is what Big Tech (Big anything really) hires all of their lawyers to make sure that they technically stay within, while flagrantly violating the spirit of the law in a way that helps the business model. The Jury is more prone to look at the spirit of the law.
- MBCook 3y ago
  I agree. Why would a judge be afraid of Apple or Google? They don’t give a shit. Neither company is going to hire hitmen. The judges are following previous rulings and trying to apply them to what are likely novel situations that the law was never intended to cover because it no one foresaw it. The courts are not how you fix this. The legislature is. Unfortunately that’s too broken to do anything.
  - Vt71fcAqt7 3y ago
    Don't be too sure. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_App_Markets_Act https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_App_Markets_Act
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
    - MBCook 3y ago
      A lot of stuff gets proposed that never gets passed. Or if it does it’s been gutted by then. I know this is my cynicism saying it will never happen, but when it comes to this kind of stuff it seems to guess correctly quite a lot.
  - DeathArrow 3y ago
    >I agree. Why would a judge be afraid of Apple or Google? They don’t give a shit. Neither company is going to hire hitmen. Since it's legal in US to buy political influence (lobby) and since judges and prosecutors are politically appointed and since the said corporations have very large pockets... To add on that media and public opinion also impacts your career as a justice and money can swing both media and public opinion.
capital_guy 3y ago
I don’t think that it’s that judges are scared of big tech. I think the antitrust teachings from the 80s and 90s were Reagan (Bork) style philosophies which have since become outdated. But federal judges are often older folks and probably lean on their now-outdated “law and economics” theory of antitrust
danaris 3y ago
...I dunno; Epic seems to me like it's also part of Big Tech, even if it's not part of The Biggest Tech.
- antifa 3y ago
  I think they should count as big tech, even if only recently. UE is a beast and the epic store has a lot of 3rd party content.

by nojvek 3y ago

giblfiz 3y ago

>It’s interesting how the judges in Apple vs Epic stayed with Big Tech My thought is that the judges are likely staying with the "letter of the law" which is what Big Tech (Big anything really) hires all of their lawyers to make sure that they technically stay within, while flagrantly violating the spirit of the law in a way that helps the business model. The Jury is more prone to look at the spirit of the law.

MBCook 3y ago
I agree. Why would a judge be afraid of Apple or Google? They don’t give a shit. Neither company is going to hire hitmen. The judges are following previous rulings and trying to apply them to what are likely novel situations that the law was never intended to cover because it no one foresaw it. The courts are not how you fix this. The legislature is. Unfortunately that’s too broken to do anything.
- Vt71fcAqt7 3y ago
  Don't be too sure. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_App_Markets_Act https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_App_Markets_Act
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - MBCook 3y ago
    A lot of stuff gets proposed that never gets passed. Or if it does it’s been gutted by then. I know this is my cynicism saying it will never happen, but when it comes to this kind of stuff it seems to guess correctly quite a lot.
- DeathArrow 3y ago
  >I agree. Why would a judge be afraid of Apple or Google? They don’t give a shit. Neither company is going to hire hitmen. Since it's legal in US to buy political influence (lobby) and since judges and prosecutors are politically appointed and since the said corporations have very large pockets... To add on that media and public opinion also impacts your career as a justice and money can swing both media and public opinion.

capital_guy 3y ago

I don’t think that it’s that judges are scared of big tech. I think the antitrust teachings from the 80s and 90s were Reagan (Bork) style philosophies which have since become outdated. But federal judges are often older folks and probably lean on their now-outdated “law and economics” theory of antitrust

danaris 3y ago

...I dunno; Epic seems to me like it's also part of Big Tech, even if it's not part of The Biggest Tech.

antifa 3y ago
I think they should count as big tech, even if only recently. UE is a beast and the epic store has a lot of 3rd party content.