About Scott Cleland
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You are hereFraudWhy the FTC Will Likely Block the Google-DoubleClick MergerSubmitted by Scott Cleland on Tue, 2007-07-17 09:52My detailed analysis over the last several weeks leads me to believe that the FTC is likely to block the Google-DoubleClick merger because it will enable Google to dominate online advertising and dramatically increase the opportunity for market collusion and price manipulation in the market for consumer click data, ad-performance tools, ad-brokering and ad-exchanges. Antitrust is fact-specific and evidence-driven. To understand the true antitrust outlook for a merger one needs to become familiar with the core facts of the case. To date, media and investment coverage of this merger has been remarkably superficial.
I see three big takeaways from my white paper. First, the more people learn about this merger the more concern they will develop. Watch the "open" CNBC debate over 700 MHz rules -- you decideSubmitted by Scott Cleland on Thu, 2007-07-12 08:51Both sides were ably represented:
Watch and enjoy! The Department of Justice on "bid rigging"Submitted by Scott Cleland on Wed, 2007-07-11 12:27Given the issue of whether or not the 700 Mhz auction is being run for the benefit of the American taxpayer, there is a very interesting quote from a Justice Department official today on their view of "bid rigging" in a competitive government auction, in this case concerning a defense contractor.
It is interesting to juxtapose this Justice Department quote of today with another quote from today in the Dow Jones article on the 700 MHz auction, which quoted the position of Gigi Sohn of Public Knowledge on "bid rigging":
The ends don’t justify the means. Frontline's proposal is so disingenuous: Let me count the waysSubmitted by Scott Cleland on Tue, 2007-07-03 11:02Frontline's Reed Hundt is mounting a furious eleventh hour effort to finagle a backroom sweetheart deal for his company from the FCC, in the 700 MHz auction. He attacked the outstanding op ed in the Washington Post by Robert Hahn and Hal Singer in both the Post and in RCR. Our former Big Government FCC Chairman, Mr. Hundt also apparently has lost his cool and perpsective in railing against the rollout of the new, innovative and already successful iPhone as somehow a market failure that only his company can cure. "Earmarked Airwaves" -- a 700 MHz auction "UNE-P" deja vu?Submitted by Scott Cleland on Wed, 2007-06-27 11:08Kudos to Robert Hahn and Hal Singer for their outstanding op ed in the Washington Post "Earmarked Airwaves."
At its core a spectrum auction is the quintessential type of competition. The auction law's purpose in 1993 was to use market forces, competition, to allocate the public's asset most appropriately, largely because previous FCC spectrum allocation processes were so ineffective, unfair and prone to serious abuse and graft.
This 700 MHz auction may be shaping up to be FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's legacy moment: will it be marked by promoting competition and market-based outcomes or will it be marked by standing on the auction scales to ensure the spectrum is "earmarked" to the predetermined, chosen "winner" -- in this case former Clinton-Gore FCC Chairman Reed Hundt's Frontline Wireless company. What? We're not one of Google's favorite blogs! How can that be!Submitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2007-06-18 12:56Can you believe it? Google launches its new public policy blog today and the NetCompetition/Precursorblog is not one of the blog links under "What We Are Reading!" Horrors! First of all, it is not very "authentic" of the Google bloggers to not admit that they regularly read Precursorblog -- we know they do!
Second, don't you believe for a minute that Google does not want to know what their latest public policy or PR vulnerability is. Welcoming Google to the blogosphere!Submitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2007-06-18 11:54The following is the comment I posted to Google's first "authentic" blog post on net neutrality in Google's new public policy blog: Welcome to the blogosphere! We congratulate Google for joining the NN debate more openly using your own "authentic" voice and not those of your surrogates. It is also about time for Google to be more specific on the issue of net neutrality. Pages |