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

U.S.-China trade fight reaches top American court in antitrust case.  President Donald Trump’s trade fight with China moved inside the white marble walls of the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, where lawyers for both countries faced off over whether Chinese companies can be held liable for violating U.S. antitrust laws.  The nine justices heard arguments in an appeal by two American companies of a lower court ruling that threw out price-fixing claims against two Chinese vitamin C manufacturers based on submissions by China’s government explaining that nation’s regulations.  Many of the justices signaled skepticism toward that ruling.  The arguments gave both countries a chance to air their differences over an aspect of their trade relationship.

Apple’s Deal for Shazam Is Delayed in Europe Over Data Concerns.  If data is the most valuable currency of the digital economy, at what point does a company have so much that it becomes unfair?  That’s a question antitrust experts are increasingly asking themselves as the world’s biggest technology companies harvest more and more information about people and businesses.  Last week, European regulators pushed the idea forward, announcing an investigation into Apple’s proposed acquisition of the song-identification app Shazam over concerns the iPhone maker would get access to data on competitors like Spotify.

U.S. to seek court approval to terminate ‘outdated’ antitrust judgments.  The U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday it plans to seek court approval to terminate “outdated” antitrust judgments that remain on the books throughout the United States.  The government said there are nearly 1,300 “legacy” judgments remaining on the books of its Antitrust Division, and nearly all likely remain open in U.S. courts.  The Justice Department said the “majority of these judgments no longer protect competition because of changes in industry conditions, changes in economics, changes in law, or for other reasons.”

EU antitrust regulators to investigate metal packaging cartel case.  EU antitrust regulators have taken over an investigation into a suspected cartel of metal packaging companies from the German cartel agency because the illegal activity took place in several EU countries and not just in Germany.  The Bundeskartellamt raided several companies in March 2015 following a tip-off, targeting makers of tin and aluminium cans used for food and chemicals, as well as manufacturers of vacuum seals for jars.  The German watchdog said on Friday it had handed over the case to the European Commission because the alleged cartel affected other EU countries in addition to Germany.

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

DOJ Looks Into How AT&T, Verizon Handle Defecting Customers. The Justice Department has opened an antitrust investigation into whether AT&T, Verizon and a standards-setting group worked together to stop consumers from easily switching wireless carriers. The companies confirmed the inquiry in separate statements late Friday in response to a report in The New York Times. The U.S. government is looking into whether AT&T, Verizon and telecommunications standards organization GSMA worked together to suppress a technology that lets people remotely switch wireless companies without having to insert a new SIM card into their phones.

EU antitrust chief says investigation of Google’s Android, AdSense is advancing. Investigations into how Google may be using its Android smartphone operating system and its AdSense advertising service to thwart rivals are advancing, Europe’s antitrust chief said on Wednesday, amid concern about the lengthy proceedings. The European Commission opened its investigation into Android in 2015, following a complaint two years earlier from the lobbying group FairSearch. A 2016 document seen by Reuters said the EU competition enforcer planned to levy a large fine against the company and would order it to stop giving revenue-sharing payments to smartphone makers to pre-install only Google Search.

Time Warner C.E.O. Testifies That AT&T Merger Is Needed to Battle Silicon Valley. Time Warner’s chief executive, Jeffrey Bewkes, vigorously defended his company’s $85.4 billion merger with AT&T on Wednesday, saying the deal was necessary to confront “tectonic changes” in entertainment caused by internet competitors like Netflix and Amazon. Mr. Bewkes was the first top executive from Time Warner and AT&T to take the stand in federal court to argue against the Justice Department’s lawsuit to block the merger. The Justice Department had sued to stop the blockbuster deal in November, arguing that a union of the two companies would harm consumers and weaken competition.

Fox chose Disney over Comcast on regulatory, stock fears: filing. Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, which agreed in December to sell most of its assets to Walt Disney Co for $52.4 billion, had previously rejected a bid from Comcast Corp over concerns about the regulatory risks and its stock value, a regulatory filing on Wednesday showed. The joint filing by Disney and Fox, which outlines the timeline of their negotiations, offers the most detailed insight yet into Fox’s thinking, as it goes head-to-head against Comcast, a U.S. cable operator, in its bid to acquire European pay-TV company Sky Plc, in which Fox holds a 39 percent stake. Comcast announced in February it was working on a $31 billion bid that would top Fox’s deal for Sky. It has not made a new attempt to bid for the Fox assets after the Disney deal, so investors are keen for information on the hurdles that prevented an agreement between Fox and Comcast.

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

EU carries out antitrust raid at firms dealing with sports media rights.  EU investigators carried out unannounced inspections on Tuesday at the offices of firms linked to the broadcasting of sports events in several member states over concerns they may have violated EU antitrust rules, the European Commission said.  It said the Commission officials were accompanied by their counterparts from the relevant national competition authorities.  “Officials carried out unannounced inspections in several Member States at the premises of companies active in the distribution of media rights and related rights pertaining to various sports events and/or their broadcasting,” the Commission said in a statement.

Google poised to emerge unscathed from European antitrust crackdown.  The European Union’s top antitrust regulator, Margrethe Vestager, has made it her mission to stem alleged anti-competitive abuses by big American tech companies, threatening as recently as last month to break up Alphabet Inc.’s Google.  But a decision in the most important of three antitrust cases against Google – this one aimed at loosening its stranglehold over Android-powered smartphones – is likely to show just how difficult it is, even for a committed trust-buster like Vestager, to dent the power of the U.S. giants.  The final ruling, expected within the next few months, will likely involve a multi-billion-dollar fine and an end to clauses in licensing agreements that stop smartphone vendors from promoting alternatives to apps such as Google Search and Maps, people familiar with the European Commission’s thinking say.

European Authorities Raid Offices of 21st Century Fox Unit.  European authorities raided the London offices of a unit of 21st Century Fox on Tuesday as part of an antitrust investigation into the distribution of sports programming.  The search at Fox Networks Group was one of several the European Commission said it had conducted across Europe as part of an investigation into potential violations of rules prohibiting price-fixing cartels.  The investigation adds to the regulatory challenges that 21st Century Fox, Rupert Murdoch’s media giant, is facing in Europe, where officials have held up its bid to take full control of the British satellite broadcaster Sky.

Bayer shares jump on report of U.S. antitrust deal on Monsanto.  Bayer shares jumped nearly 5 percent on Tuesday following a media report that the U.S. Justice Department will allow the German drugs and pesticides group to acquire Monsanto in a $62.5 billion deal.  The Justice Department reached an agreement in principle with Bayer and Monsanto in recent days after the companies agreed to sell more assets, the Wall Street Journal said late on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.  Under the deal, Bayer agreed to sell additional seed and treatment assets to BASF and agreed to make concessions related to digital agriculture, it said.

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

Judge Lets Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Suit Move Ahead.  A court is allowing antitrust litigation against health insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield to proceed.  U.S. District Judge David Proctor of Birmingham, Alabama, in a ruling late Thursday refused to accept the insurer’s claim that it’s a single entity operating across the nation.  Instead, Proctor agreed to let plaintiff lawyers move ahead with allegations that some actions by 36 state insurance operations could amount to an automatic violation of antitrust laws.  The suit claims the insurer’s actions mean higher premiums for customers and lower reimbursement rates for medical providers.

Time Warner pressure on cable carriers cited as U.S. fights AT&T deal.  The Justice Department, seeking to stop AT&T Inc.’s deal to purchase Time Warner Inc., sought to show how often Time Warner subsidiary Turner would threaten to cut off cable companies to win concessions during contract negotiations.  The Justice Department has asked Judge Richard Leon, who is hearing the testimony, to order the companies to abandon the deal on the grounds that it is illegal under antitrust law.  Coleman Breland, who negotiated distribution contracts for Turner for more than two decades, testified about a series of instances in which the movie and TV show maker threatened to “go dark,” essentially cutting off access to content for various cable providers.

Italy Antitrust opens probe into Facebook’s collection, use of data.  Italy’s Antitrust Authority has opened a probe into possible incorrect commercial practices by Facebook in its treatment of user data, the agency said in a statement on Friday.  “When an account is activated, Facebook may not adequately and immediately inform the user about the collection and use, for commercial reasons, of the data that they release,” the statement said.  The agency also said users may “automatically and without their knowledge” be agreeing to the harvesting and use of their data by third-party applications that connect to the Facebook platform.

Live Nation Rules Music Ticketing, Some Say With Threats.  In 2010, when the Justice Department allowed the two most dominant companies in the live music business — Live Nation and Ticketmaster — to merge, many greeted the news with dread.  Live Nation was already the world’s biggest concert promoter.  Ticketmaster had for years been the leading ticket provider.  Critics warned that the merger would create an industry monolith, one capable of crippling competitors in the ticketing business.

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

EU antitrust chief keeps open threat to break up Google: report.  The European Union holds “grave suspicions” about the dominance of internet giant Google and has not ruled out breaking it up, according to a warning by the EU’s antitrust chief, Britain’s Telegraph reported.  European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager reckons the threat to split Google into smaller companies must be kept open, the newspaper said.  Google currently faces new EU rules on its commercial practices with smaller businesses that use its services.

Uber Beats Philadelphia Cabbies’ Antitrust Appeal.  Uber Technologies Inc. on Tuesday defeated an appeal by 80 Philadelphia taxicab companies accusing the ride-sharing company of trying to monopolize that city’s vehicle-for-hire market.  The broadly worded decision by a unanimous three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could help Uber defend against similar claims in New York and other cities where the taxi industry is struggling. Taxicab companies and a trade group, the Philadelphia Taxi Association, claimed that Uber had an unfair advantage by being allowed to enter Philadelphia in October 2014 without having to comply with various local regulations governing taxis.

EU antitrust chief turns to academics to help tackle tech challenges.  Europe’s antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, who has taken on Google, Apple and Qualcomm in recent years, is looking to three academics to help her deal with anti-competitive practices in fast-moving technology markets.  Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic worry about the power of a few giant technology companies over businesses and users, with critics even calling for the rewriting of antitrust enforcement rules to make them more interventionist.  Others, however, say enforcers have no business predicting how new technologies should develop and where and how they should be used.  U.S. Federal Trade Commission acting chairman Maureen Ohlhausen in a recent speech asked if enforcers were truly qualified to pick winners and losers in the modern economy.

Time Warner Looks Appealing as Antitrust Trial Underway: Barron’s.  Shares of Time Warner Inc. look appealing based on their underlying value and on the strong chance that AT&T Inc. will win approval for its $85 billion acquisition of the company, according to the March 26 edition of Barron’s.  AT&T squared off with the U.S. Justice Department on Thursday in a long anticipated antitrust trial, as the two sides disputed whether the company’s purchase of Time Warner would be good for consumers or an expensive drag on innovation.