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Update [Thu 13th Jul, 2023 03:00 BST]:
Microsoft's vice chair and president Brad Smith has now issued a statement, mentioning how the tech giant is "disappointed" by the FTC's appeal. Here's what he had to say:
Brad Smith: “The District Court’s ruling makes crystal clear that this acquisition is good for both competition and consumers. We’re disappointed that the FTC is continuing to pursue what has become a demonstrably weak case, and we will oppose further efforts to delay the ability to move forward.”
Activision Blizzard's CCO and EVP of corporate affairs, Lulu Cheng Meservey, has also issued a response via social media while Blizzard president Mike Ybarra shared the following one-liner: "Your tax dollars at work".
Lulu Cheng Meservey: "The facts haven’t changed. We’re confident the U.S. will remain among the 39 countries where the merger can close. We look forward to demonstrating the strength of our case in court - again."
Original article [Thu 13th Jul, 2023 01:00 BST]:
Although it seemed like Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard was almost across the line, in an update, the FTC has now filed an appeal against Judge Corley's decision to deny the preliminary injunction request.
This information comes via The Verge's senior editor Tom Warren. The regulator's argument behind this appeal has not been revealed yet, and apparently won't be until it's submitted to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The source goes on to explain how the regulator now requires the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to issue "an emergency stay to extend the existing temporary restraining order" due to expire on 14th July. And it's further noted how the appeals court may not rule before the "deal deadline" on 18th July, which means Microsoft could still finalise the acquisition early next week.
Microsoft is also in the process of working through a possible restructuring of the deal with the UK Competition and Markets Authority.
If we hear any updates, we'll let you know.
[source theverge.com]
Comments 115
I'd laugh if these idiots weren't wasting more time and tax payer money over what at the end of the day are just freaking video games.
Kahn has officially lost her damn mind.
Judge Corley laid out so many reasons why the FTC was wrong. It would take the appeals court to disagree with a fair number of her arguments to overturn this. I don't see that happening.
Hang in there Ponies
@Somebody the thing about appeals you have to actually prove something was wrong with how the trial was conducted.
What the FTC is actually trying to do knowing there is no appeal is get the emergency injunction extended past the July 18th deadline so that that MS and ABK have to renegotiate.
To go further the FTC based on their current powers can’t find anything that would allow them to block the deal. They want more time to try to find a way to block the deal.
Clearly Jim Ryan's pawns.
That was a given, it's standard practice, though..... Good luck on that. Defendants running through all appeals is fair game, but plaintiffs running through judges trying every argument until something sticks isn't very well regarded. In criminal court the double jeopardy rule prevents it. In civil law that's not a factor but the connotation in the system is still negative and tends not to win favors unless there's a very solid argument for overriding a decision from another court.
What did FTC stand for again? Factually Terrible Cases? Something like that?
Been there, done that.The FTC and Microsoft had an entire week to present their cases, and to the knowledge of the courts both sides were forthcoming and presented all information in an open honest manner. To appeal the FTC would need to present that there was a material error, not just that they don’t like the verdict. Next please.
What a waste of my tax dollars.
I hope that the emergency stay is denied this week. Microsoft should finish this with or without the FTC and CMA's approval before the 18th and then the FTC and CMA can sue them and lose again while ABK games come to Game Pass.
What power has the CMA over this, anyway? They can't stop the merger, maybe hurt UK users at best. Congratulations on that and on wasting taxes. The FTC can't stop the merger either unless the emergency stay is granted and that won't happen.
Next week, the headlines will be, "Microsoft completes Activision Blizzard King Acquisition Successfully" (replace Microsoft with Trillion Dollar Underdog on the other site).
@mousieone exactly this.
I see MS and ABK working overtime and closing this deal over the weekend, if not the second the current temporary stay expires.
It's wild that the FTC has the balls to CHOOSE judge Corley for this case then argue she mishandled it and ask for an emergency appeal. They got the judge of their choice and still wont acknowledge they are wrong.
It's bizarre that FTC would be so willing to take yet another blackeye after 2 major losses already. Do democrats realize that they will be wearing these blackeyes too if they don't reconsider their policies/apointeees.
Lol. Seems like they just wanna delay it as long as possible.
Really starting to wonder if Microsoft promised a campaign contribution and back peddled on it or funded another politician. This is truly bonkers and completely beyond the pale and just screams of revenge for something.
@Moonglow Of course it's an internal agenda but appealing everything is standard, it's why litigation takes years and why going against big entities like Microsoft or the government is impossible. Whoever has enough money to outlast the other in legal costs always wins by default, half the time it never even gets as far as hearings judgements, one side runs out of money and it just ends there. In this case though it's bottomless money pit ms vs unlimited money
Though appealing a denial of an injunction that was denied due to insufficient grounds is pure tort. But tort is the American (and British) way!
@GuyinPA75 I'm pretty sure Kahn is going before Congress tomorrow abd is at risk of contempt of Congress (no clue what that is) if she doesn't provide requested documents related to other FTC dealings. Pretty sure the government is backing her on either side as this is about American companies merging with an openess to unions. At this point can she be held liable for mishandling of tax payers dollars? Really is a personal agenda regardless of facts.
She’s got a pretty big problem https://nypost.com/2023/07/12/lina-khan-faces-grilling-on-capitol-hill-after-microsoft-activision-defeat/amp/
I have feeling people are going to start seeing her as a loose cannon now.
Yawn just yawn
@Moonglow how comes they are allowed to use tax money? I think the government should investigate them and maybe make some changes.
As a law grad I find it hilarious that a government institution can waste so much time and money without achieving anything significant and has the audacity to appeal when there wasn't a factual error in the verdict. FTC is an embarrassment at this point and really should be investigated for their abuse of power.
For f*ck sake I just wanna play Crash Bandicoot via Game Pass
So they want to go down in flames, looking like an embarrassment, wasting tax dollars on their egos.
@Somebody I think the FTC needs to be investigated if this continues. They are clearly not doing their jobs and gladly wasting tax payer money on a frivolous lawsuit out of their own pride and stubbornness. There must be some corruption going on behind the scenes for them to double down this hard on something like this. I want answers.
When asked about the appeal Stanford Law professor Doug Melamed said:
"It's extremely unlikely that the FTC could persuade the Court of Appeals to enjoin the merger before July 18."
So one has to wonder what the FTC is doing here. Perhaps they're just posturing to the public, to make it look like they're trying to do their jobs while they ignore acquisitions that arguably have a greater impact on consumers, eg: Broadcom's recent acquisition of VMware, which was also for $69 billion.
@Moonglow @mousieone Imagine the can of worms that gets opened up if it's found that the FTC and CMA were colluding to stop this merger.
I would think that would make the CMA decision null and void and heads will roll all across the pond.
@GamingFan4Lyf That will be one of the biggest government corruption scandals of our era.
@Krzzystuff I’d generally agree, except she’s advocating Democratic (party) ideologies to the US House of Representatives, which means she’s basically speaking before the Republican party. It’ll be an uphill battle as the republicans will try to railroad her into a corner that she’s stifling innovation.
@Wilforce I mean they chose a judge for a trial and after she didn't give them their way because they couldn't fabricate convincing arguments they are trying to appeal. I don't know about stifling innovation but she's definitely after a personal agenda. I agree that large corporations that take advantage of employees and tax breaks aren't good for the world. But not sure this is a battle against that here.
Anyways, who's excited for Diablo in gamepass?
How about this time if the appeal succeeds we don't use a Judge whose son actually works for MS thus giving her incentive to favour MS.
@WallyWest There is not going to be a "this time". This extension wont be granted, and this deal will very likely close Monday, dare bet first thing in the morning.
If these things can be done over the weekend, it might be done by Saturday morning.
And its not like the Judge kept anything a secret, it was openly disclosed and the FTC actually insisted on going through her court. MS did not want to go through a CA court.
@WallyWest the thing is MS wanted a different judge. The FTC insisted on this one. And agreed it was fine after the judge said it wouldn’t sway her decision. A bit hard to argue that it’s an issue now.
@WallyWest wouldn’t the next excuse just be MS paid them off. I mean it’s rare anyone is going to give actual credit to anything.
@mousieone Why would they pick a judge who has a clear bias? I wouldn't trust her at all i would want a Judge with zero connections to either party. FTC could have won this if they weren't so incompetent.
@mousieone " And agreed it was fine after the judge said it would sway her decision. "
The judge said it would not sway her decision, but still offered to recuse herself.
@Dragonsbane Their stock is already being delisted in Monday. It can be traded with but
https://www.ainvest.com/news/trade-desk-to-replace-activision-blizzard-in-nasdaq-100-index-23071000257692369fa02577/
@WallyWest well their case was a joke and their expert wasn’t very good at explaining his research. I don’t know what to tell you but you think they are going to magic a better case literally within 48 hours?
They might win but their case is really weak as far as cases go.
@Dragonsbane spelling mistake oops I’ll edit.
@Solidchief same for me. And diablo 4.
Removed - flaming/arguing
The FTC is entering Trump territory. They were both losers and need to get over it.
The USA is turning into the laughing stock of the world. It is no longer ok to take a loss, you have to fight until the ship has sunk and even afterwards fight it more until you fully drown.
This reads like they are trying to run out the clock. They want MS or Activision to decide it is isn't worth it "on their own". They don't have to actually win in court
After they made such a terrible case Im suprised the FTC want more. I guess this was expected, but seems pretty stupid given how overwhelmingly their arguments were disproved.
@WallyWest
😂😂 Let's decode your cryptic post:
How about this time if the appeal succeeds we use a Judge whose son actually works for Sony thus giving her incentive to favour Sony and protect their unassailable dominant position in console gaming....Because that will align with my personal bias.
There I fixed that for you.
You never know, perhaps Jim Ryan will be arsed enough to actually attend in person to be cross-examined...
All I can say every time I see an article like this pop up is: "Poor Crash...."
He's been through a rollercoaster of emotions lately
They will likely lose it, but not surprised they have done it. Got to be seen as making efforts, political agendas and all that.
What a crap show, why bother, absolute BS from the FTC, they lost they need to get over it, just delaying tactics, will end up costing them more money and more Egg on their faces!
@Sol4ris Jim is clueless, he's come out looking the worst out of all this, lying and scheming, piss poor indeed.
We all know that MS are trying to buy their way to a monopoly. They said so themselves. But lets be honest, we don't care because we want more GamePass games!
Although if Apple or Google were buying ABK, Zenimax and all the other incoming purchases that were documented, then would it be a problem?
Perhaps that will be Saudi Arabia's next business adventure. To buy out all the gaming studios and the FTC and CMA won't be able to stop them. And as Xbox owners we would have to defend their actions against Sony fanboys just like everyone here also defends them for buying the PGA, Boxing, Football.
But in the meantime give my my Diablo 4 and CoD!
Chances are that the FTC are appealing this based on the fact that the Judge was potentially biased in favour of Microsoft because her son worked for them, @Dragonsbane. Even though it was well documented beforehand, and indeed laughable that they should now see it as a problem, I would not at be surprised if the FTC didn't now raise this as an issue. They're clutching at straws, as they have done throughout the case, and are likely hoping to wind down the agreement clock, as much as anything, but I can just imagine that this is their last throw of the dice...
Not surprising but does seem foolish. Their specific arguments, and more specifically the way they argued them, were weak.
But perhaps they are hoping to delay so that MS and ABK have to restructure the deal if it's ongoing beyond the 18th, which is potentially their best chance of stopping it. It feels like a Hail Mary.
FTC should just accept their defeat. They're making themselves look unprofessional at this point.
Also, anyone who sides and still believes with the FTC should read the full article of the hearing REALLY CAREFULLY.
FTC: 'Tis but a scratch.
Xbox: A scratch? Your arm's off!
FTC: No, it isn't.
Xbox: Well, what's that, then?
FTC: I've had worse.
Removed - unconstructive
@101Force I read One idea that said since the FTC head Lina Khan is testifying before Congress today, she can use the appeal to say she disagrees with the decision and is appealing, which will help alleviate some of the scrutiny she will be receiving as she testifies before Congress. It’s possible the appeal was literally just to give her some short term political cover at the precise time she needed it.
Glad to see - I fully expect this deal to go through but hopefully this whole affair will discourage industry consolidation in the future.
The Corruptness of the FTC is insane
@mousieone This process has exposed both Sony and Lina Khan's hidden plans, each of them with their own agenda. Both are being investigated. Lina Khan is an extremist that would do anything to reach her goals.
@Kaloudz @Microbius So, the current temporary order blocking the deal expires Friday at 23:59. It's certain that the deal could be finished this weekend or on Monday because the deal deadline is 18th July. It could be delayed if the parties Microsoft and ABK agree but now there is no reason. I don't think that Microsoft should wait for CMA's approval if it doesn't come tomorrow. CMA's stubborn statements make me think that they will try to prolong the situation as much as possible, so Microsoft shouldn't wait any longer. There is nothing preventing Microsoft from finishing this after Friday.
Not surprised, I did see a grounded video on this and they believe they 'may' have a chance of winning the appeal. We shall see.
The FTC will still be protesting when Call of Duty 99 releases on game pass.
I don't understand why some of these comments are trying to make this a political battle, both Judge Corley and Lina Khan were hand picked by Joe Biden 🤷
As for the deal I just want it to go through already, we all know is happening eventually so all this stalling by the FTC and CMA is just wasting time and money
Meanwhile, Ticketmasters continues to bend us over in plain view of the FTC with no repercussions whatsoever.
Apparently, this means very little. I can see the deal closing soon-ish.
Sony and/or Ryan has some friends in the FTC. 😂
@S1ayeR74 "Not surprised, I did see a grounded video on this and they believe they 'may' have a chance of winning the appeal. We shall see."
And I have a chance at winning the lottery.
Sony must pay their lobbyists in the FTC really well. An appeal is hopeless. This is just a stalling tactic.
Oh no, that’s bad. D:
@XxEvilAshxX I'm sure if Apple ever decided to open their own ticket sales platform to compete with Ticketmaster, Kahn's FTC would be right there to protect us from big tech trying to take over the ticket market and hurt competition.
@CutchuSlow "how comes they are allowed to use tax money? I think the government should investigate them and maybe make some changes."
Sadly if you think this is a waste of money you should see what all the other alphabet soup agencies spend on. Why oversee money use when you can just threaten government shutdown next year until everyone approves borrowing more money from China and pretend we're not just a puppet territory of theirs now. The committees that would oversee this have probably spent more on their personal travel budgets than the whole of the FTC lawsuit.
@Juanalf it’s not political is the casual left v. Right sense. But more in a personal political career sense for Lina Khan. She has been overreaching and losing poorly picked battle after battle in an attempt to give an image of “tough” against the corporate and tech world. That’s why she’s testifying today before Congress. Not just her behavior here but in her entire time as FTC chair.
It must be the judge's son that works for microsoft, right? Forget they WANTED this judge in the first place. Are those same people going to bring up that a former employee who used to work for a Sony lawfirm is a senior director at the CMA? Naw, not gonna talk about that one i bet.
@Moonglow More likely seems that the appeal is not addressed until well after the deal has already gone through.
The FTC tactic has been entirely focused on doing things close enough to the deal deadline to run out the clock, but that is likely to backfire.
@Moonglow personally I am neutral on outcomes, although not hearing more about this whole ordeal is worthy of celebration.
My opinions on this whole ordeal are simply based on the weakness of the case presented by the FTC more than desire of things going either way. The FTC's case is so weak, that I cant believe they didn't know it wasn't. Their tactic was almost certainly based entirely on running out the clock, same with the CMA.
@Moonglow @Dragonsbane Right. Thanks for your comments, in between.
One of the worst parts of this is if the ftc get there own way ( they wont ) it will cost US taxpayers more and more and more ,yet one of there problems is we dont want Xbox to force ppl onto their console but the ppl on the US are forced to pay for this we won't give up cause we are stubborn move
Kahn is testifying to Congress judiciary committee today. I hope they grill her on this appeal and blatant disregard of tax payer’s money to advance her agenda.
@Gamer83 That is the crazy thing — the regulators are trying to twist and contort the argument as if the market is going to cornered on something essential. This is not the water supply or the electric companies uniting into one — it is videogames.
@Secryt they are mostly they on about wasting money , everytime they say chair Kahn I think they are saying shere khan , where's baloo ?
Edit I mistakenly thought of star trek ok I'm not a trekkie , shere khan is the tiger in jungle book
@mousieone I just want someone to call them out, explicitly, already. Judge Corley was rather incredulous when the FTC argued. The same with the CAT judge when the CMA came with their B.S.
Microsoft and Activision will have the deal/contracts/agreements etc all set out and ready to sign. T's crossed I's dotted. The minute the window opens and there's a chance, it'll all be signed and deal done. Saturday at midnight maybe?
This stinks of agenda / politics at this point. There is no clear reasoning that this would lessen competition unless the appeal is going to uncover more dirt on the industry. Honestly, tax payers should be livid at them appealing.
@Dragonsbane If they did win an appeal, what would you be thinking then if you don’t win the lottery lol?
@Hutchilawd Visions of Spencer gleefully skipping down the road to Acti Blizzard HQ with a giant Price Is Right style 70 billion cheque under his arm is much better 🤣😂
@Hutchilawd On a serious note the US stock market has been warned and prepared to devalue the ActiBlizz stock over the weekend, in readiness for the deal going through. Something like that anyway, but that was between yesterday and todays news.
@Fiendish-Beaver And the exact same stupid accusations were thrown at the CMA because a member of their team worked for Sony years ago. Same stupid dumb accusation being made. But that’s the gaming community I guess?
@theduckofdeath well she’s getting lit up by the republicans right now and they threaten to cut her budget.
Lina getting COOKED!
I wanted to note that for all of us that don't live in USA, we're just disgusted by Lina Khan, regardless of politics. In any case, she should be neutral as a public regulator leader and I think that's what disgusts USA citizens. She also seems to not have a clue (or don't give a damn) about the consumers' rights.
According to Wikipedia, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection.
What on Earth are they going to base their appeal on? Are they going to argue that the deal shouldn't go through "just because"? They got obliterated in court already on every argument they tried to make. The decision to appeal is baffling. They're evidently not sick of looking like complete fools.
@Banjo- that’s correct. As your friend from across the pond she is a progressive Biden appointment who wants more government control. She’s requesting a 4x bigger budget for the FTC and her stance on blocking big business is well documented. It 100% is political agenda
@Banjo- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of Sony protection.
Fixed that for you, and Wikipedia, buddy. 😂
@Secryt Thanks, that's totally what she looks like. Good thing she's going to be investigated as well. Who would have thought this acquisition would open so many doors and windows around the world...
@LoquaciousB Now fix the Wikipedia definition of the CMA, this one will be even more hilarious 😂.
Key words: Sony, anti-competitive activities.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the competition regulator in United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for strengthening business competition and preventing and reducing anti-competitive activities.
@S1ayeR74 tell you what, if they get the block extension, I'll actually go and buy a lottery ticket. The FTC and I would then be on even grounds at winning.
@Dragonsbane Hey! Only if you share the winnings with me for giving you the idea lol.
Wonder if we will know by Saturday if the appeal has been killed or not?
They just appealed the case to the same judge that denied them originally ._.
@mousieone This is just embarrassing behavior for the FTC, completely unprofessional for such a big government agency. Couldn't be more obvious how they are simply trying to be obstructive to the very end despite having no legitimate case.
@mousieone Wait, WUT?! Semi-non-criminally-but-pushing-every-wrong-button-in-the-system to cycle judges to get one sympathetic or paid off/politically-activist-and-aligned (fellow traveler) is what I thought they were trying to do. They're seriously just cycling back to the same judges that shot them down already to ask if they've changed their mind yet??
@JayJ Let's take a moment to remember the former FTC body pre-Kahn that sat down and made a major decision about "net neutrality" where they seriously deliberated if the big tech giants should be able to force big telecom giants to do whatever they want them to do at a loss.
The circus already had the strongman and lion tamer, all they've added is the 2-headed baby.
@NEStalgia yup. And they are claiming the exact same points with a few add ons. I’m sorry judge but we know you said this but you are wrong. I mean maybe she’ll say she was wrong but wow.
@JayJ they just had their budget slashed I think.
@mousieone Telling a judge "ur wrong" really, really, really plays out well.
I thought OJ was the trial of the century with a great cast and script, but this really blows it out of the water. It's not every day you can get genuine white house appointees for the Kato Kaelin role. Maybe Microsoft can give them an AI Cochran recreation just so it's not as unfair a fight.
@Moonglow I promise it wasn't me! 😂
@Moonglow nope and she just ruled against them again. Now they have to get an appeals court to make a decision by midnight tomorrow
Lina Khan will go far in politics. Completely awful at her job, she is what happens when you hire on ideology not talent.
@mousieone the same judge that was chosen by the ftc themselves...
They had to appeal first to the judge who presided over the case, Judge Corley. That is the only way. They can't appeal to anyone else.
Judges usually say no to the motion (obviously, judges always stand by their decision) which then sends it to the appeal panel of judges. Which will consist of 3 judges. Corley has already denied the appeal.
They will determine the fate of the deal Friday.
It's hard to put a number of it, but I would guess 65% appeal denied, 35% granted.
An appeal is never black and white, and the risk is never zero.
The main area the FTC may prevail in is confusion, hence so many lines of appeal. Usually the FTC would narrow down an appeal to one of two major points, to increase the chance of success. That's why I think they are trying to confuse the appeal court, in hope of them granting aTRO or PI, so the appeals court can take a closer/longer look.
I would guess the appeals court will see thru that tactic. But it's not guaranteed. Nothing is when law and courts are involved.
Later today should be interrsting
Time and money wasting move on you lost with a weak argument.
IGN already reported that it was denied. Lol.
@PapaGlitch Activision Blizzard was in trouble. The point was to keep it from going to Amazon or Meta to split the whole ecosystem apart had they made the games exclusive and not on Playstation, Nintendo, or Xbox.
@Sakai The thing to remember here is what the hearing and consequently the appeal is for. The hearing (and appeal) is not a judgement on whether the merger violates trust law or not. The hearing (and appeal) is for putting a preliminary injunction on the merger to keep it in a holding pattern while an ACTUAL trial to determine if it's in violation of trust law is scheduled. If it were a trial for an active trust violation, the gravitas would be different. In this case after a week long hearing it was judged that there is insufficient evidence indicating a trust violation to even consider mandating it stay on hold to await being tried for trust law violation for real. I.E. "There's so little here to indicate an actual trust law violation it's not even worth waiting to hear more. Go home." So an appeal on that needs to demonstrate that the evidence was SO misunderstood, that the court not only made the wrong decision on the injunction, but the evidence really is solid enough to go for an actual trust violation verdict. If they had wildly new evidence, or realized they dramatically misrepresented their case and could present it in a new light that shows the danger of the merger in a way they failed to present in the original hearing, they'd have a shot. But.......no....they're just repeating the same things and claiming the court heard it wrong. And the court after that. And the court before those two. Which was their own court. Arguing to circuit justices that all the other circuit judges you told the same thing to all made the wrong decision, even though their decision matched every other country on earth save one........ in a land were precedent is the law.... by using the same argument..... I won't say it's impossible. They're bucking for an activist judge. But if they fail to get one, It's beyond the 70/30 statistics. I wouldn't be surprised if it was dismissed before scheduling. Courts, and court budgets, don't like being abused for frivolous cases, or having their circuit's judgements being questioned.
@Fenbops No, she's not even what happens when you hire on ideology. She's a true bureaucrat activist. She doesn't actually know what she supports or why, she just follows a razor thin understanding of something she heard should be popular. She doesn't have an ideology, just a one-track talking point with little fundamental understanding of what the claimed ideology even is about. If she had an anti-big-tech anti-consolidation ideology.....this is not the case she'd be hanging her career on, and even an anti-MS bent would be going for much higher hanging fruit like Azure, Office, or pre-emptively AI dominance. Not the already highly competitive games market. This isn't ideology, it's tail chasing to appear relevant.
I'm still rolling from months ago when a major news outlet referred to her as "the young legal phenom"..... She makes Clarke, the incompetent, distracted DA from the OJ trial look genius. I think they mistook "empty headed activist from a well bred connected family" as a synonym for "phenom."
@mousieone "Now they have to get an appeals court to make a decision by midnight tomorrow"
Is Kahn even on the bar? In any state? Like...she knows how this works, right?
NEStalgia wrote:
That's more or less what I replied on the Turkey's thread. Yes, we have a variety of threads here 😁.
Banjo- wrote:
@Kaloudz @NEStalgia Lina Khan is destroying the FTC.
https://nypost.com/2023/07/12/lina-khan-faces-grilling-on-capitol-hill-after-microsoft-activision-defeat/amp/
The FTC wanted to stop the deal before the trial, the order expired, they asked for more time, it won't be granted before tomorrow. Bye-bye FTC until the future trial that you will likely loose.
The CMA is trying to block the merger with absurd excuses, the only one left is that Xbox Cloud will destroy the innovation and competition because why?? How can the CMA get away with it and not provide any objective proof??
I think that the EU and other regulators were honest regarding their concerns because they quickly reviewed Microsoft's subsequent concessions. It's absolutely obvious that the FTC and the CMA are prolonging this due to their ill-will. The FTC has tried legally and has failed again and again. The CMA is resorting to abusing bureaucracy to let the process drag on until Microsoft gives up. Different strategies, same goal.
Microsoft should complete the acquisition before the 18th because the CMA will keep on obstructing the acquisition with excuses. Once it has been completed, the FTC and the CMA are free to keep challenging Microsoft and ABK with trials but if they are intentionally hampering the merger because of their agendas, they must pay for it.
@Banjo- The only turkey that matters is the one chairing the FTC.
FWIW, NYPost tends to be a strong right-leaning rag (and most other mainstream US media is strong left-leaning rags, we don't have much in the way of neutral anymore.) I don't think they're wrong here, but figured I'd add the context of the political leanings since everything is politics in the US, and Kahn...well....ok, I don't even know what side she plays for, appointed from the left, talks like she's on the left, but is biting the feeding hand of a left mega-donor in Microsoft so, we're really really deep into the psychedelic PCP here...
@theduckofdeath
Yup. And tbh, considering I'm not pleased with a lot of what's going on in the games industry these days, particularly the 'AAA' portion of the market, I find it increasingly difficult to get too worked up over this stuff anymore. Whatever is going to happen is going to happen and the 40+ year olds arguing like elementary school children on the playground is embarrassing.
9th circuit just DENIED the injunction. It’s over. NEVER A DOUBT.
@Kaloudz @J_Mo_Money Yes, exactly what we were saying yesterday 👍.
@NEStalgia Indeed!
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