Tag

Antitrust

Articles and publications tagged Antitrust across the Atmosphere.

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Articles

Publications

TechdirtOct 13, 2026

Trump Bans CNN, Then Has DOJ Investigate CNN For Not Covering Him

Remember when Elon Musk told advertisers to go fuck themselves... and then sued them (unsuccessfully) for not advertising on his personal propaganda and manipulation site? Well, it appears that Donald Trump is trying a government-backed variation on that abusive power play: claiming that news networks choosing not to cover him after he announced he was...

1st amendmentantitrust

TechdirtSep 28, 2026

Free Speech, Consumer Groups Make Last Ditch Effort To Block Paramount Merger

Last week California Democrats -- including Governor Gavin Newsom, LA Mayor Karen Bass, and AG Rob Bonta buckled under pressure and got 12 states to drop their antitrust lawsuit against Paramount's $111 billion merger with Warner Brothers. Worse: they did so without affixing any meaningful conditions or divestments, ensuring that the deal, as with all...

antitrustaraceli martinez-olguin

TechdirtSep 24, 2026

The Antitrust Problem With Meta’s Settlement With The States

Originally published as an op-ed in The Mercury News. Republished here with permission from the author. Meta’s settlement with the state attorneys general (currently awaiting court approval) has been touted as industry-redefining. Indeed, Meta desperately hopes it will be. Although Meta was the only industry player to negotiate its terms, the settlement agreement is structured...

antitrustchild safety

TechdirtSep 21, 2026

California AG Rob Bonta Caves, Paramount Merger To Proceed With Flimsy Conditions

California AG Rob Bonta has caved to what was a relentless, bipartisan pressure campaign to settle the 12 state antitrust lawsuit against Paramount. The AGs sued Paramount last July, arguing (correctly) that the $111 billion deal would largely be anti-competitive, resulting in mass layoffs as the even bigger Larry Ellison-owned company forces labor and consumers...

antitrustcalifornia

TechdirtSep 9, 2026

Fake Consumer Group Using AI To Generate Fake Support For Paramount Merger

In addition to the $111 billion Paramount/Warner Bros merger just being foundationally bad for creatives, labor, and consumers, the Ellison family-owned company's executives just keep demonstrating why they're not really the kind of folks you want dominating the lion's share of U.S. media.That's included calling deal critics "antisemitic," cozying up to foreign authoritarians, constantly threatening...

aiantitrust

TechdirtAug 27, 2026

LA Mayor Karen Bass The Latest Democrat To Wimp Out On Paramount Merger

The unpopular Paramount Warner Brothers merger should have been a perfect opportunity for Democrats to demonstrate they are finally serious about stuff like media consolidation, right wing propaganda, media reform, and antitrust after decades of policy incoherence. Instead, numerous prominent California Democrats have been buckling to Paramount demands aimed at settling a 12-state antitrust lawsuit...

antitrustconsolidation

TechdirtAug 25, 2026

More Details Emerge On How Trump Cronyism Ruined The Attempt To Break Up Ticketmaster

Last March it was revealed that the Trump DOJ stabbed its antitrust lawsuit state partners in the back and struck a terrible settlement with Ticketmaster, scuttling a generational opportunity to break up one of the more glaring examples of modern monopoly power. Quite a curious choice for a Trump-addled party that spent all last election...

antitrustantitrust reform

TechdirtAug 14, 2026

Paramount Promises Meaningless CNN ‘Oversight Board’ To Try And Gain Merger Approval

It's always the same routine.Before each giant merger the companies promise that the new combined entity will deliver the sea, moon, and stars. We're told the consolidation will result in untold synergies, massive job growth, and incredible new innovation. Yet in a country too corrupt to have functional antitrust enforcement or working regulators, what we...

antitrustconsolidation

TechdirtAug 4, 2026

Gavin Newsom Makes An Ass Of Himself On Antitrust, Paramount Merger

It's hard to not have noticed that a key enabler of U.S. authoritarianism was our consolidated corporate media, which (with scattered exception) was more than happy to throw the entirety of journalistic integrity in the toilet for a chance to please a mad, idiot king. In large part because our press is increasingly owned by...

antitrustcompetition

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetAug 7, 2025

The AdTech Underbelly

Ever wonder why online advertising is so confusing, complicated, and privacy-threatening? A new book by an industry insider helps explain why—and how Google put its giant hand on the scale.

adtechadvertising

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetDec 14, 2023

Waking Up The Regulators

While regulators have long struggled with how to attack big tech, a landmark ruling and a big disclosure suggests that big tech is finally getting noticed. Finally.

googleepic games

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetOct 8, 2021

Does This Ring A Bell?

The chatter around breaking up Facebook makes it a great time to talk about why the last effort to break up a communications giant, AT&T, didn’t really work.

antitrustat&t

Tedium: The Dull Side of the InternetMar 12, 2019

Let’s Break Up Adobe

Why the creative software giant Adobe deserves a place in the broader discussion of breaking up tech giants like Facebook and Google. It's not just Photoshop.

adobesoftware

Anil DashFeb 10, 2004

Useful Analogies

Now that we’re in the last few months of the Era of Pop-Ups on the web, I’m kind of curious what the annoying ad format means. I think pop-ups are distinct from pop-unders; The ones appearing behind your browser seem more like a slime trail left by aggressive advertisers, whereas those first X10…

techadvertising

Anil DashAug 22, 2000

Maybe DeepLeap should get in

Maybe DeepLeap should get in touch with CrossGain…? > CrossGain is headed by recently departed Microsoftie and antitrust trial star Tod Nielsen. Nielsen was VP in charge of developer relations at Microsoft for 12 years. > Nielsen couldn’t be reached for comment, and CrossGain is keeping mum about…

microsoftantitrust

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