The Digital Economy

Does Apple Stifle or Promote Innovation?

The answer is both. How so? The recent antitrust complaint against Apple heralds a pivotal shift in understanding the influence of tech giants on innovation in the digital realm. This article highlights three key takeaways. 

The DOJ Seeks To Unbundle Apple’s Core

Randy Picker reviews the context of the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Apple and the questions of merit and the competitive obligations of dominant firms driving the case.

At Stake in the Apple Case Is Foregone and Future Innovation

Fiona Scott Morton provides her initial thoughts on the Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Apple, how it compares to current and past tech cases, and the arguments she anticipates each side will make.

The Eight Features Defining Emergent Competition Policy for the Digital Era

Drawing on new research, Oles Andriychuk identifies eight defining features of the European Union’s and United Kingdom’s new laws to regulate competition in digital markets that transform how we understand competition policy.

Musk’s Lawsuit Ponders if Nonprofit Governance Can Protect a Social Mission

One of the questions that Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, raises is whether Microsoft’s involvement in changes to OpenAI’s board in November violated nonprofit law. Benjamin Leff assesses this challenge and if current nonprofit law is capable of monitoring nonprofit behavior in its current form.

Does Elon Musk’s Lawsuit Against OpenAI Have Merit?

Two professors of law assess the merits and questions raised by Musk's recent lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman.

The European Commission Fines Apple 1.84 Billion Euros and Spotify Still Isn’t Happy

The European Commission has fined Apple for abusing its App Store. The Commission did not mention Spotify, but the fine appears to answer the music streaming platform’s complaint that Apple’s App Store fees to developers are too high. But now that Spotify has seen Apple’s new approach under Europe’s new Digital Markets Act, Spotify is still unhappy, highlighting the flaws of Spotify’s original complaint and the Commission’s fine, writes Randy Picker.

Who Will Enforce AI’s Social Purpose?

Elon Musk recently sued OpenAI over claims that the company has strayed from its social mission and has instead focused on profit maximization. Roberto Tallarita examines how Musk’s lawsuit shows well-intentioned corporate planners how hard it is to commit to an effective and enforceable social purpose and warns policymakers that relying on corporate self-regulation of AI could be a fatal mistake.

The Antitrust Agencies’ Focus on Monopolization Claims Against Big Tech Dilutes the Meaning of Monopoly

The various antitrust complaints the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have brought against Google, Amazon, and Facebook are based on monopolization claims under Section 2 of the Sherman Act. Herbert Hovenkamp explains why the government should also  have relied on Section 1 of the Sherman Act and Section 7 of the Clayton Act to support their Big Tech cases.

Why Musk Is Right About OpenAI

Luigi Zingales argues that Elon Musk is right to sue OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, given the economic principles at stake.

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