The Antitrust Week In Review

Here are some of the developments in antitrust news this past week that we found interesting and are following.

U.S. Asks If Comcast, Time Warner Cable Restricted Video Deals.  Federal regulators vetting Comcast Corp.’s proposal to buy Time Warner Cable Inc. want to know if the cable giants tried to restrict Walt Disney Co. and other entertainment providers from offering programs to rival online video outlets.  Among other avenues of inquiry, the FCC has asked eight media companies, including CBS Corp. and Discovery Communications Inc., to describe any limits to online distribution imposed by the two largest U.S. cable providers.

F.C.C. Approves Net Neutrality Rules, Classifying Broadband Internet Service as a Utility.  The Federal Communications Commission voted to regulate broadband Internet service as a public utility, a milestone in regulating high-speed Internet service.  The new rules seek to ensure that no content is blocked and that the Internet is not divided into pay-to-play fast lanes for Internet and media companies that can afford it and slow lanes for everyone else.

FTC Puts Conditions on Novartis AG’s Proposed Acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline’s Oncology Drugs.  Global pharmaceutical company Novartis AG has agreed to a proposed FTC consent decree that will require it to divest all assets related to its BRAF and MEK inhibitor drugs, currently in development, to Boulder, Colorado-based Array BioPharma to settle charges that Novartis’s $16 billion acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline’s portfolio of cancer-treatment drugs would likely be anticompetitive.  The FTC investigation is notable for its substantial cooperation with antitrust enforcers in Australia, Canada, and the European Union.

Ninth Circuit Refuses to Rewind Netflix Win.  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has agreed Netflix shouldn’t be on the hook for allegedly colluding with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to divvy up the market for online DVD rentals.  The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit alleging that Netflix and Walmart ran afoul of antitrust laws in their 2005 deal that transferred customers of Walmart’s DVD-rental subscription service to Netflix in return for Netflix’s agreement to promote Walmart’s DVD sales business.