The Latest Round of FTC Competition and Consumer Protection Hearings

The Federal Trade Commission this week held another set of hearings on Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century. The hearings and public comment process this Fall and Winter will provide opportunities for FTC staff and leadership to listen to experts and the public on key privacy and antitrust issues facing the modern economy. The hearings are intended to stimulate thoughtful internal and external evaluation of the FTC’s near- and long-term law enforcement and policy agenda. The end goal is to identify areas for enforcement and policy guidance, including improvements to the agency’s investigation and law enforcement processes, as uncover areas that warrant additional study. This week was hearing #3, a three-day event that examined 1) the potential for collusive, exclusionary, and predatory conduct in multi-sided, technology-based platform industries, 2) the approach to addressing antitrust issues regarding labor markets, and; 3) antitrust frameworks for evaluating acquisitions of nascent competitors or occurring in nascent markets, including in the technology and digital marketplace.