Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-14-2024

Abstract

"The “Gatekeeper” approach to competition policy proceeds by identifying a few large firms as gatekeepers. It then applies aggressive competition rules to them while leaving others unaffected. Legislation that was considered last year in Congress would have done this. While that legislation failed to pass, the issue of competitive control of large firms remains alive and will certainly return. The proposed American Innovation and Choice Online Act illustrates the problems of gatekeeper approaches. First, it selects for harsh treatment a portion of the economy that is generally outperforming the rest. Second, it limits its domain to online firms without any basis for thinking that competition problems are more serious in that portion of the market. Third, by defining covered firms by large firm size rather than product market share it misses anticompetitive actions by firms that are smaller overall but dominant in particular products. Finally, for those firms identified as gatekeepers it would prohibit a great deal of competitively harmless activity."

Keywords

American Innovation and Choice Online (AICO), monopoly, dominant firms, Online Competition, Self-Preferencing

Publication Title

Michigan Technology Law Review

Publication Citation

30 Mich. Tech. L. Rev. 1 (2024)

DOI

https://doi.org/10.36645/mtlr.30.1.gatekeeper

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