Analysis | Watchdog group calls on judge to recuse in FTC-Microsoft case

A watchdog group is calling for the recusal of the judge presiding over the Federal Trade Commission’s closely watched bid to block Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard deal, citing the fact that her son works for the tech giant, according to a letter shared exclusively with The Technology 202.

[lodossrage]

When I reported this last week about this Judge I was called a liar.....

[Asplundh]

No you wasn't. I thought it was fake and I was wrong.

[Rimeskeem]

That implies that you called them a liar...

[Crows90]

Props for admitting it.

[4Sh0w]

“The fact that there has been no motion to recuse tells us that none of the parties is concerned,” said Stephen Gillers, a law professor at New York University who specializes in judicial ethics."
https://www.washingtonpost....

-If the FTC was concerned it should have been addressed immediately, the son apparently is a "rank and file" employee that has nothing to do with the gaming division. Still I think it should be something this group and definitely the FTC said something about in the beginning AND nobody has suggested the judge has done anything unfair in the proceedings. -This group would need to file a official complaint & show evidence of judicial bias to stop the case from moving forward, which they haven't just publicly writing in a tech outlet paper that she should recuse.

Also this wasn't "discovered" by anyone, it says at the very beginning of this story SHE made it public knowledge that her son worked for Microsoft in a dept that has nothing to do with gaming, FTC did not mind.

Sounds to me they are desperate after it's clear from the facts their losing so NOW, the judge is biased. lol

[JackBNimble]

When someone claims they were wrong , it shows their mistake was unintentional. A lie is purposely trying to mislead people, a very big difference.

[JackBNimble]

Judges are supposed to recuse themselves even at the appearance of bias .
I would say this meets that criteria.

[4Sh0w]

JackBNimble

-You are correct but "the appearance of bias" is subjective, especially as a matter of law. Judges often have some connection with cases more often than the public actually thinks BUT as far as the judicial oversight is concerned #1 There has to be a good reason for that connection to indicate a person who's dedicated their life to following the law could not do so based on the evidence, simply because they are related to someone that if you read this story it says basically there is nothing her or her son would gain by Microsoft winning or losing this case. #2 After or during the proceedings there would have to be some questionable behavior or something very unusual to suggest that the judge was biased in order to negate the judges verdict. Nobody not even this group has said she is unfair only that she should have recused herself because of the appearance that she might be, again without siting specifically where?

[shinoff2183]

As a ps fan I thought it was bs to. Wow. Kudos to you for bringing it up

[Hofstaderman]

This circus keeps giving and giving….Here comes a delay in proceedings and that deadline date is fast approaching.

She is between a rock and a hard place. Rules for; enquiry to determine bias and possible reset of proceedings.

Rules against; Xbox will claim she felt pressured to do so because of this, possible reset of proceedings.

[mandf]

To be fair she has to recuse herself. She should have known it would be a conflict of interest. How it got this far she be investigated. This is no minor blumder.

[bababooiy]

Judging by the general reception prior to all of this i think most involved thought it would go through without too much hassle. Instead it turned out to be a whole event.
I mean reality is weve seen much worse purchases go through without a peep, like big pharma buying out big competititors is very common. And id argue thats much more scary.

[shinoff2183]

Bababooiy

These deals get taking to court or things brought up all the time. My guess is ya just never paid much attention. Far as big pharma lol what a joke. America is gonna get fked in the end either way , happens right now. We pay the most by a longshot for medicine these same big pharma companies charge other countries. I agree but that sh is to far gone monopoly or not.

[S2Killinit]

Woah, that should have been addressed right away…

[Zeref]

The FTC lawyers are fine with it. One of their lawyers used to work for Sony as well.

[Sonyslave3]

Not only that this Watch Dog see how bad the FTC is getting killed by her lol she had to remind the FTC your job is to protect the consumers not Sony Corp.

[Sephiroushin]

it's not close to the same, for one they're family and close family mother and son which need to be disclosed and also, who is to say the lawyers who used to work and doesnt work for sony anymore doesnt like sony or hold a grudge against sony for X or Y thing ...

[shinoff2183]

Somyslave your so full of sh. You gonna have to come with a link if you expect that to be believed.

[S2Killinit]

“Used to work” is different, and this is the JUDGE.

[Haki1112]

@shinoff2183 https://youtu.be/9s35MBJ6vW... 11:33 mark. Judge: "It's not the harm to sony we care about it's the harm to the consumers" the FTC been on full protection for sony instead of the cosumers. Ftc and sony worried about COD coming to gamepass and the Judge even said this will force sony to make their PSN+ service better to compete with gamepass and in the end the cosumers win but sony fans stay mad

[Rimeskeem]

Link plz

[Othegamer5]

@shinoff2183 your so goofy. that is public info if you been paying attention the judge clearly said that its not a secret. "your going to have to come up with a link" use google fanboy.

[DarkZane]

@Sonyslave3 Blocking this deal would be protecting consumers, but you toxic xbox fanboys can't see that.

[King_Noctis]

What does her son have to do with anything? As the article clearly said, he doesn’t even work in the gaming division. What benefit does he gain by if Xbox win this case? I fail to understand this.

[kneon]

it's pretty simple, microsoft will be harmed by the deal failing to go through (lower revenue, lower share price etc.). Her son works for Microsoft therefore it will have an impact on him as well.

[mkis007]

Microsoft is buying Activision...Xbox is not...Microsoft bought Bethesda too...hence why they are still referred to separately from MGS.

This deal is about Microsoft not Xbox. If Xbox was an independent company there would be no issues with the purchase (assuming they could afford it).

[Crows90]

Microsoft can afford gaming...Xbox can't. Lol

[giovonni]

Its simple, nothing. It’s just being used because there is nothing left to use to block the deal by those who don’t want it to go through. Even if they (government) threw the case out and retried it the FTC would still fail to show why this deal is anti consumer. The FTC spent their entire testimony on protecting Sony and its position. It got to a point where the judge again had to remind the FTC lawyers that they were there to protect the consumer not Sony. This last five days was really a waste of time, but was very informative with the shady business practices of each company.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Read what Pete posted below. Code of conduct. If you and King were actually using sense, you'd know the law and what the effect is on him or her.

But it's not like you care because you are fine with a huge corporation buying out franchises and the industry. They have plenty of money. Plenty of developers. They just want more to hurt Sony and control everything like Windows.

But that's if you were using common sense to know.

[shinoff2183]

It's still the company as a whole. The division doesn't matter. What lol

[giovonni]

It’s still a reach, and again what difference does it make? The FTC still failed to prove why this was anti consumer. The Trade Commission Spent days defending Sony not the consumer. Her Son being apart of Microsoft has no bearing on the poor job The FTC has done. Now if the FTC had a legit solid case I’d agree, but this is such a reach and a spin to cope with the fact the FTC had nothing, and wasted time. The thing is MS could still lose.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Try using your head. Direct influence from her own son could sway the outcome. You know it's true. But fain ignorance.

[giovonni]

Lol! What influence?! The FTC destroyed the case all on their own. Are you kidding me, “direct influence” so you think her son’s influence changes the fact that the FTC couldn’t prove why this was anti consumer. Wait wait, his influence could sway his mom even though the lawyers were clearly protecting Sony through out this case. Man cut the BS and stop reaching.

[thesoftware730]

What if her son is a PlayStation fan?

Working for MS(not Xbox) has no bearing on what video games a person likes.

[King_Noctis]

Like someone said, what if her son a fan of Nintendo or Playstation? What if he own all the consoles and is not a fanboy of just one? What if he doesn’t play video game at all?

Thing is, N4G’s mentality is everyone has either to be a fanboy of some sort of consoles or is involved in the fanboy console war.

[Petebloodyonion]

The problem is the perception of a potential conflict of interest affecting the judge's impartiality.
"The public could rightfully become concerned about a judge being improperly biased if the judge’s child is employed by a corporation whose case the judge is overseeing"

[slate91]

Reeeeaaaaach

[Chris12]

The FTC and Sony have totally blown this case, and they know it. Their only win is likely to be a technicality which is why this has now surfaced. Fan boys and desperation at it's finest.

[BlackTar187]

Lmao you sir are a crackpot

[Jon61586]

This doesnt matter in the court of law as the judge themselves does not work for the company and would not benefit at all from any merger or Aquisition

[raWfodog]

"The code of conduct states that U.S. judges should disqualify themselves in cases in which their “impartiality might reasonably be questioned,” including if a person related to them “within the third degree … could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding.”

The code of conduct also applies to family members.

[raWfodog]

To clarify, the code of conduct that the judge's must follow also relates to their family members connection to a particular case. A person COULD argue that the judge may vote favorably for Microsoft as to not negatively effect her son's position at Microsoft, even if he's not within the gaming division.

[Reaper22_]

That's not gonna happen. It doesn't change the facts about this deal.

[CrimsonWing69]

I mean the FTC looks like literal morons and the judge asks straight up obvious questions like, “all this for a single game?” and now some group wants a recusal?

At this point the ruling needs to be made and it’s time to wrap up this comedy.

[BlackTar187]

I find it funny that ask the Xbox diehards try and repeat the FTC looks so stupid they blew it over and over. You guys are paid shills?

[CrimsonWing69]

Oh I’m sorry, didn’t realize calling them out means I’m an Xbox shill. Should I just say they’re doing an excellent job instead?

[SICKINDIVIDUAL]

Clearly she doesn't understand what that 'just one game' is.

How does someone so stupid become a judge?

[derek]

I believe it is possible for a judge to disregard such ties and make a sound ruling based on the law which is why her decision making will be put in writing. But it is important to avoid even the appearance of bias which is why some judges recuse themselves in such situations which is wise. We'll see but just because her son works for Microsoft we shouldn't assume she will make a different ruling then what the facts lead to.

[Binarycode]

Just tell MS to fk off and end this sht.

Sick and tired of seeing on it.

All MS have done since they entered the gaming arena is fk it up. They were not wanted and not needed.

[BlackTar187]

That’s actually all they do in every thing they do. Bill gates himself has got to be one of the most scummy humans that had ever walked the earth.

[Binarycode]

100%. Creepy asf. You can tell he's been to Epstein island.

[gold_drake]

yea, thats a conflict of interest.

she should recuse herself.

[jznrpg]

Clearly a conflict of interest

[anast]

Imagine all the money these agencies are making while they decide to let the deal go through.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

Good catch.

[Petebloodyonion]

"The code of conduct states that U.S. judges should disqualify themselves in cases in which their “impartiality might reasonably be questioned,” including if a person related to them “within the third degree … could be substantially affected by the outcome of the proceeding.”"

I think it's pretty clear.

[TheKingKratos]

I Fudging hate Microsoft for this shit show that have nothing to so with actually making games ...all the news now is about this F deal ... Let it end already

Microsoft can go to hell for all o care but i haye them dominating the gaming industry news with stupid deal.

[elJoker5]

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