Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chair Lina Khan was questioned by the House Judiciary Committee today on why the agency is spending so much taxpayer money on merger trials, such as the ongoing legal fight with Microsoft.
***so much taxpayer money on merger trials, such as the ongoing legal fight with Microsoft.***
I mean, regardless of the Microsoft case, it is literally their job to use taxpayer money to actually hold businesses to a litmus test on mergers. With the number of mergers happening every year, there's a lot to ensure and comply with. This is a dangerous thing to question and could result in mergers that are actually bad for consumers to get through. These people are competing against the richest people in the world. You can't compete with that on a pittance of funding. It takes money.
The FTC had nothing, their case was weak, they presented very little and made arguments that they couldn't prove let alone just shined a light on what every gaming developer/publishers in the industry does and they lost.
At this point, with this particular case it does become a waste of Tax payers money.
***At this point, with this particular case it does become a waste of Tax payers money.***
They're not questioning this case, though. They are questioning all cases in the question asked. Which either tells me they are strong-arming the FTC to back down by threatening to reduce their funding or they want to defund the FTC as a whole, which means so much more will get through and they will have less and less to combat against companies that continue to grow in wealth.
The FTC if I recall is not only asking for more funding but lost a few cases already due to their flimsy showings. Theyre using the ABK/MS deal as just another example.
Which speaks to the point of this article.why is the FTC wasting tax payers money on arguments they can't seem to win? Especially even more with this appeal.
***.why is the FTC wasting tax payers money on arguments they can't seem to win?***
Because it's literally their job to do as such. They are a non-political group that is then subject to judges who are politically appointed. Does this mean they shouldn't do their job? It's the job of tons of people to go to court over things even if they end up losing them more often than not. That's how the legal system works.
Okay, I get that, but it's definitely not their job to waste tax payers money on frivolous cases they can't prove or win in court! I hope we can agree with that right? The FTC, under Lina Khan, sucks at their job. This is exactly why she is being questioned about her mismanagement and her inability to regulate and enforce anit-trust laws.
***Okay, I get that, but it's definitely not their job to waste tax payers money on frivolous cases ***
The judge has the ability and power to throw out a frivolous case right away. She didn't do it. It was not deemed frivolous. The FTC didn't strongarm the judge nor do they have such power.
Senators making claims that it is frivolous don't care about that and use such words as a performative means to attack groups.
I agree with you to an extent, but bottom line is, this is in no way nor should it be illegal. Sony will be just fine. They are just scared to death to have to keep making innovative games because Jim Ryan has no idea about gaming. Shawn Layden would have taken this on the chin and then kept putting out bangers.
We seem to be discussing two different things, either that or you're choosing to ignore the actual topic.
No one is arguing what the FTC's actual job is, the issue and topic is the FTC not performing their job and therefore wasting tax payers money, by not only loosing multiple cases but not being prepared in the case of this ABK deal and bringing weak arguments to court that even the judge said was mostly about defending Sony.
So why increase funding for a current group that can't win, not because of lack of funding but because of lack of knowledge, preparation and skills?
Without reading the article just the headline it sound like a republican politician complaining about the democrats government Now to read the article and see if I was right
🤣 Call it just as I thought and btw wasn’t some of those mergers the ftc lost during the previous administration. I’m seriously asking because I’m too lazy to look it up 😢.
Of course our corrupt government would question why someone is actually trying to do a good thing. Naturally, politicians don't understand how to do right for anyone but themselves. Crooked worthless bastards.
If you think about it, it makes sense with the $70 price increase.
If you can get access to a $70 game upon release for paying only $16/month, I can absolutely see the desperation tactic of trying to block that from happening if you’re a competitor that doesn’t offer that option.
let me ask you this, how is having one company pay for exclusivity for a game not as bad as one company buying a publisher to make games exclusive or in this case still allow the game on a competitor platform, but make it cheaper on their platform?
Is the frustration now that you might have to buy an Xbox to play exclusives? I mean to a Xbox owner isn’t this what they’d have to do if games are exclusive on PlayStation? This has always been the case when choosing a platform. I can only speak for myself, but I typically make a platform my primary platform based solely on the exclusives it provides.
I choose Sony over Nintendo and Xbox because I prefer the exclusives and I’d rather play multiplatform games on a Sony console. I only buy the other platforms to play the exclusive titles on them and nothing else.
"let me ask you this, how is having one company pay for exclusivity for a game not as bad as one company buying a publisher to make games exclusive"
Because there is still competition for the exclusives. Don't like it, pony up more dough or find a better way to make your console/services more appealing
"or in this case still allow the game on a competitor platform, but make it cheaper on their platform?"
MS can't commit past 10 years. If multiplatform makes it that far, doubt it, it will be exclusive at 10 years and 1 day. That's the problem. If it was on gamepass day 1 I would rather buy it on my PS instead of getting an Xbox to play for free. However if the game leaves PS then I would need to get a gaming PC, an Xbox, or give up the game
Psygnosis is such a stupid argument. They were purchased in 1993, the games industry was still niche. They also put games out on other platforms for 7 years after acquisition. Including wipeout 64 on Nintendo 64.
The industry was young back then, buying them allowed Sony to enter it just as buying bungie and rare allowed MS to enter it; Giving us potential big names in the industry.
Or what ms has done for decades also. Why do you people ignore ms and all the shit they've done, like all their 3rd party exclusives etc. Ms isn't some innocent party , and yall make them out to be. Buy some fking games and maybe bigger third party studios would be open to doing exclusives with ms. Try it. Bet it works
Crimson
If Sony was truly in the midst of making stsrfield exclusives I definitely would of been timed just like desthloop, and ghostwire. Theres no reason to believe otherwise considering those two deals.
There's false equivalence in these kinds of remarks. Yes, purchasing exclusivity is a problem, but not all exclusivity purchases are equal. There's the Call of Duty stuff which I would say fair enough to any criticisms about that. But in cases like Street Fighter V, Death Stranding, and Bloodborne, I fully disagree. Those are co developed projects. It would be like Scalebound if it ever came out.
But even outside of that, with timed exclusives, I can't really complain about that too much. It still comes to other platforms and developers do benefit from the money made during those deals.
The notion that this is a waste of taxpayer money is such a tired argument Congress uses when they want to advocate for austerity or supporting the activities of their donors. Bottomless well of funding for wars and a global presence on foreign soil, but the moment there's anything that considers the welfare of the population, there's a bottomless well of excuses.
Funny how quickly they send money to Israel or sell weapons to Saudi Arabia for human rights abuses without this kind of deliberation. Your tax dollars also pay their salaries and healthcare, just for them to deny you universal healthcare coverage or a higher federal minimum wage.
You can't be surprised when they say something that has a very clear corporate bent.
.. it was and is a big case.
alot of discovery and lawyers to pay.
what kind of stupid question is that lol.
That sums it up 💀
Part 1: https://twitter.com/unidase...
Part 2: https://twitter.com/andreap...
Of course our corrupt government would question why someone is actually trying to do a good thing. Naturally, politicians don't understand how to do right for anyone but themselves. Crooked worthless bastards.