Read on Twitter
Big tech companies have used tying to extend their dominance into new markets. Short thread on this unfair practice and the still good law on it.
Tying is when a firm conditions the purchase of one product on the purchase of a second, separate product (through contract or technical integration). A familiar example is cable bundles: To get the channels you want, you must also pay for the channels you won't watch.
Through tying, a dominant firm can exclude rivals, coerce consumers, and extend its power into new markets. Here are just two of many examples from the tech sector.
Slack recently accused Microsoft of bundling Teams with its dominant Office package as a means of foreclosing Slack and other competitors in collaboration software https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/22/technology/slack-microsoft-antitrust.html
In last Wednesday's big hearing, @RepMGS forced Jeff Bezos to admit that Amazon ties the "Buy Box" for sellers with their use of Amazon shipping and delivery https://promarket.org/2020/07/31/top-10-admissions-from-tech-ceos-secured-at-the-antitrust-hearing/ @HalSinger
Fortunately, the law on tying remains good: tying by firms with "appreciable economic power" in a market is illegal. @openmarkets summarized the law and described the harms from tying in an amicus brief filed in the Fifth Circuit on Monday https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/publications/open-markets-files-amicus-brief-laying-out-harms-from-tying-and-urging-court-to-affirm-good-law-on-practice
While the law is favorable, the intent of enforcers, especially at the federal level, is unclear. Will @JusticeATR, @FTC, and state attorneys general enforce anti-tying law against Big Tech?
