Buckle Up: The Global Future of Antitrust Enforcement and Regulation
Published in American Bar Association's Antitrust Magazine
Today’s global antitrust landscape is a veritable whirlwind of antitrust enforcement and seemingly inevitable regulation. Unleashed by the global concern over the perceived power and entrenchment of tech platforms, enforcement agencies and private plaintiffs are aggressively seeking to enforce current antitrust laws across jurisdictions. Where perceived gaps in enforcement exist, governments are considering new laws and regulatory schemes that address the digital economy from a competition perspective and also take on consumer protection challenges involving contractual transparency, data protection, and privacy. These proposals, especially in the EU and U.K., are striking in that they do not appear to require traditional proof of dominance or misconduct; status as significant platforms—as newly defined—will trigger the proposed regulatory oversight and remedies. Moreover, the anticipated scope and detail of the regulation of Big Tech outside the U.S. is nothing short of breathtaking.
