Article Title

Reexamining the Legacy of Dual Regulation: Reforming Dual Merger Review by the DOJ and the FCC

Authors

Philip J. Weiser, University of Colorado

Document Type

Symposium

Publication Date

12-2008

Publication Citation

61 Federal Communications Law Journal 167 (2008)

Abstract

"The Enduring Lessons of the Breakup of AT&T: A Twenty-Five Year Retrospective."' Conference held at the University of Pennsylvania Law School on April 18-19, 2008.

A central challenge for competition policy merger review is to structure the analysis of merger remedies so that the antitrust agencies play an effective and central role, with regulatory agencies complementing-as opposed to overlapping or contradicting--their judgments. At present, the U.S. system sometimes veers towards a worst-case scenario where federal antitrust authorities-the FTC and DOJ-impose regulatory remedies that overlap with regulatory policy and regulatory agencies perform duplicative merger reviews and impose remedies unrelated to the mergers themselves. Moreover, antitrust merger remedies themselves are often not developed through a transparent, consistent, or predictable process. Consequently, as developed in this Article, there is compelling need for institutional reform of antitrust merger remedies in general and in particular with respect to how the FCC oversees mergers between telecommunications companies.

Recommended Citation

Weiser, Philip J. (2008) "Reexamining the Legacy of Dual Regulation: Reforming Dual Merger Review by the DOJ and the FCC," Federal Communications Law Journal: Vol. 61: Iss. 1, Article 11.
Available at: https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/fclj/vol61/iss1/11