FTC Creates Competition Bureau Task Force to Monitor, Probe Tech Industry
The FTC Competition Bureau launched a task force to monitor tech industry competition and investigate anticompetitive conduct, the agency announced Tuesday. The commission is in the midst of a monthslong series of hearings for determining if policy changes are needed.…
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Chairman Joe Simons acknowledged the link between the hearings and the new task force. The new entity is modeled after the agency’s merger litigation task force, launched by Simons in 2002 as competition director. That panel focused on hospital combinations and the retail industry. “It makes sense for us to closely examine technology markets to ensure consumers benefit from free and fair competition,” Simons said. The new group will include about 17 staff attorneys from divisions within the bureau, the FTC said, plus a tech fellow. Expertise includes online advertising, social networking, mobile operating systems, apps and platform businesses. Competition Director Bruce Hoffman, Deputy Director Gail Levine and Associate Director-Digital Markets Daniel Francis will oversee the task force. Tech markets “raise distinct challenges for antitrust enforcement,” Hoffman said. Centralizing expertise will let the bureau “focus on these markets exclusively -- ensuring they are operating pursuant to the antitrust laws, and taking action where they are not.”