Sen Blumenthal's Antitrust Blues

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) is arguing that regulators should deal with an explosion of merger and acquisition activity by applying “greater vigilance and vigor” to the exercise of antitrust law. “I have a longstanding and growing doubt about the effectiveness of our current antitrust laws as applied to a rapidly advancing and changing world, particularly one that is increasingly dominated by new technology,” said Sen Blumenthal, a member of the Commerce and Judiciary panels,  during a Public Knowledge briefing on a push to extend conditions applied in 2011 to the Comcast/NBCUniversal merger.

Comcast has pushed back against extending these conditions, set to expire this fall, and defended its compliance record, even sending representatives to Wednesday’s briefing to defend the cable company. Blumenthal doubted Congress would take up any major review of antitrust law but said applying and sustaining merger conditions is “more important than ever.” He told the crowd, “I think we are at kind of a moment of reckoning for our antitrust laws.”