Federal judge James Boasberg gave specific instructions to the agency on how to save the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust case against Facebook. In his opinion, Boasberg stated that there was no evidence that Facebook is a "monopoly". He also noted that the FTC had not provided any concrete information to help the agency save it. The remaining 40 percent is who? It was almost like accusing a driver for speeding, but not mentioning the speed limit.
The FTC must provide more detail in order to get back to court and move on to the next phase of litigation. Lina Khan was appointed to the post of commissioner two weeks prior to Boasberg's ruling. Facebook attempted to get Khan disqualified from the case based on her public criticisms of large tech companies prior to her current job. Experts see little likelihood of this succeeding.
The FTC has filed its revised complaint on Thursday to answer the previously unanswered question. Although it is impossible to predict the outcome of a particular judge's ruling, the revised complaint seems likely to satisfy Boasberg. Paul Swanson, an antitrust lawyer in Denver, stated that they have touched Boasberg's itch. He said that Facebook may not be capable of avoiding a lengthy slog of document productions, depositions, and other paperwork.
The FTC does not have to prove that Facebook is a monopoly in legal matters. The FTC must show that Facebook is a monopoly for legal purposes. This is one of the main reasons antitrust laws exist. Companies will not try to please customers if there isn't enough competition. Instead, they will try to squeeze them. Imagine how frustrating it can be when your internet provider raises their prices and no one else in your area serves you. This is market power.
Two ways can be used to prove market power are indirect and direct. Indirect evidence is usually a dominant market share. Although it might seem counterintuitive, the indirect evidence refers to dominant market share. The FTC provided very little evidence in its initial complaint. It offered only indirect evidence. That is, the pathetic 60 percent statistic that Boasberg determined was inadequate. The amended complaint, however, focuses on market share. The complaint relies heavily on data from Comscore, an analytics company.
This new complaint tightens the FTC's definition of market power, which is another critical part of any monopolization case. It is impossible to prove that a company has market dominance without describing the market in which they are dominant. The agency identifies three main attributes of the personal social networking market. The first is that a network must be built using a social graph, which maps the connections between users' friends and family. Second, users need to be able to interact in a shared space like a newsfeed or group. It must allow users to search for each other. You can search for people by name on Facebook but not in iMessage.
