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1 – 10 of 385James Keyte, Paul Eckles and Karen Lent
In 2009, the Third Circuit decided Hydrogen Peroxide, which announced a more rigorous standard under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3) for assessing whether a putative…
Abstract
In 2009, the Third Circuit decided Hydrogen Peroxide, which announced a more rigorous standard under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(3) for assessing whether a putative class could establish antitrust injury. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court decided Comcast v. Behrend, a case that carries potentially broad implications for both antitrust cases and Rule 23(b)(3) class actions generally. A review of the case law starting with Hydrogen Peroxide and continuing through Comcast and its progeny reveals the new rigor in antitrust class action decisions and suggests what the future may hold, including the type of arguments that may provide defendants the most likely chance of defeating class certification. After Comcast, rigor under 23(b)(3) can no longer be avoided in assessing all class actions questions, and courts should now apply Daubert fully in the class setting concerning both impact and damages. Courts should also closely evaluate plaintiffs’ proposed methodologies for proving impact to determine if they apply to each class member. Finally, courts will inevitably have to determine how rigorously to scrutinize experts’ damages methodologies and whether Comcast requires or suggests more scrutiny in assessing common evidence for measuring damages.
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L. J. Bourgeois, Nicholas Goodman and John O. Wynne
In December 2001, after a six-month process of vying for AT&T's Broadband, the president of cable operator Comcast Corporation, had just received word that Comcast's $72-billion…
Abstract
In December 2001, after a six-month process of vying for AT&T's Broadband, the president of cable operator Comcast Corporation, had just received word that Comcast's $72-billion offer had won the auction. Comcast, the cable industry's third-largest operator, would merge with industry leader AT&T Broadband to form a company with more than $20 billion in revenue and an unparalleled distribution (a presence in 22 of the nation's top 25 markets). Now the presidents of both companies began to consider their post-merger integration strategies. What was important and how should they prioritize their activities? How could they get all stakeholders to understand the rationale for the deal and its business goals and excited about the new AT&T Comcast?
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Michael D. Hausfeld, Gordon C. Rausser, Gareth J. Macartney, Michael P. Lehmann and Sathya S. Gosselin
In class action antitrust litigation, the standards for acceptable economic analysis at class certification have continued to evolve. The most recent event in this evolution is…
Abstract
In class action antitrust litigation, the standards for acceptable economic analysis at class certification have continued to evolve. The most recent event in this evolution is the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, 133 S. Ct. 1435 (2013). The evolution of pre-Comcast law on this topic is presented, the Comcast decision is thoroughly assessed, as are the standards for developing reliable economic analysis. This article explains how economic evidence of both antitrust liability and damages ought to be developed in light of the teachings of Comcast, and how liability evidence can be used by economists to support a finding of common impact for certification purposes. In addition, the article addresses how statistical techniques such as averaging, price-dispersion analysis, and multiple regressions have and should be employed to establish common proof of damages.
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This article responds to James Keyte, Paul Eckles, and Karen Lent’s article “From Hydrogen Peroxide to Comcast: The New Rigor in Antitrust Class Actions” (“The New Rigor”). It…
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This article responds to James Keyte, Paul Eckles, and Karen Lent’s article “From Hydrogen Peroxide to Comcast: The New Rigor in Antitrust Class Actions” (“The New Rigor”). It argues that The New Rigor offers valuable strategic advice to defense counsel – and insight into defense counsel’s strategic thinking – but is much less effective as an objective statement of the law or a normative argument for legal reform. In the parlance that I adopt, The New Rigor succeeds in the role of coach but much less so in the roles of commentator and critic.
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UNITED STATES:Comcast is a better fit than Fox for Sky
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DOI: 10.1108/OXAN-ES230044
ISSN: 2633-304X
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Volker Stocker, William Lehr and Georgios Smaragdakis
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the ‘real’ world and substantially impacted the virtual world and thus the Internet ecosystem. It has caused a significant exogenous shock that…
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the ‘real’ world and substantially impacted the virtual world and thus the Internet ecosystem. It has caused a significant exogenous shock that offers a wealth of natural experiments and produced new data about broadband, clouds, and the Internet in times of crisis. In this chapter, we characterise and evaluate the evolving impact of the global COVID-19 crisis on traffic patterns and loads and the impact of those on Internet performance from multiple perspectives. While we place a particular focus on deriving insights into how we can better respond to crises and better plan for the post-COVID-19 ‘new normal’, we analyse the impact on and the responses by different actors of the Internet ecosystem across different jurisdictions. With a focus on the USA and Europe, we examine the responses of both public and private actors, with the latter including content and cloud providers, content delivery networks, and Internet service providers (ISPs). This chapter makes two contributions: first, we derive lessons learned for a future post-COVID-19 world to inform non-networking spheres and policy-making; second, the insights gained assist the networking community in better planning for the future.
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K. C. Chen, Hideharu Funahashi and Nicole Warmerdam
On May 18, 2014, AT&T Inc., the second-biggest U.S. mobile-phone carrier, agreed to acquire DirecTV, a satellite-television company, for $49 billion in cash and stock. However…
Abstract
On May 18, 2014, AT&T Inc., the second-biggest U.S. mobile-phone carrier, agreed to acquire DirecTV, a satellite-television company, for $49 billion in cash and stock. However, the merger’s conditions and terms are complicated as the stock exchange ratio is contingent on the volume-weighted average AT&T stock price over a 30-day period that is three trading days prior to the date when the merger becomes effective.
Using a contingent claims pricing approach, we model DirecTV’s theoretical value based on the merger’s conditions and terms. It is shown that the theoretical DirecTV stock value is analogous to the sum of the present value of a cash offer, plus owning shares of the AT&T stock, and short volume-weighted average price (VWAP) call spreads. Using three different option-pricing models, DirecTV’s stock valuation model is tested with the market data. Empirical results show that on average, DirecTV’s stock was consistently priced at a discount during the sample period, and Funahashi and Kijima’s (2017) VWAP option model works better than Black and Scholes’ (1973) plain vanilla option model and Levy’s (1992) average-price option model.
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D. K. Malhotra, Rashmi Malhotra and Kathleen T. Campbell
As cable and satellite industry undergoes transformation in the 21st century with the onslaught of innovation-driven changes, it is important to know which company is doing better…
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As cable and satellite industry undergoes transformation in the 21st century with the onslaught of innovation-driven changes, it is important to know which company is doing better and which company is falling behind. This study compares the relative performance of eight cable companies using three factors: operating expense for every dollar of operating revenue, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, and return on assets. We also evaluate the performance of each firm against itself for the period 2010–2013 to see if they show improvement or deterioration in operating efficiency.
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This paper aims to underscore how the digitization of content and the convergence in the telecommunications sector has prompted a wave of consolidation between telecom and content…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to underscore how the digitization of content and the convergence in the telecommunications sector has prompted a wave of consolidation between telecom and content players.
Design/methodology/approach
Using interdisciplinary insights from competition policy and business strategy, the paper draws attention to the interplay between business model innovation and merger control in the converged telecoms sector.
Findings
Technological innovation and business model innovation led to the emergence of over-the-top (OTT) services. This innovation in turn led to two key effects, first, successful commercialization of content and the emergence of the “smart pipes” that in turn has led to the second effect, which is increased mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the converged telecommunications sector. Emergence of OTT with big data as a key advantage challenged the strategy and business models of the more established players, such as the AT&T, Time Warner, Liberty Global and Fox, which in turn led to the current trend of M&As in the sector.
Originality/value
This paper makes the following key contributions to the literature on M&As between the fixed/mobile and content players. First, it elucidates how the existing market players can benefit from competition policy, such as merger remedies to enter new and related markets. Second, it advocates that the US and the European competition authorities while assessing these M&As, take due account of innovation in business models, as business model innovation not only promotes innovation in the market but also enhances consumer welfare, considering that it offers the merged firm economies of scale and scope to offer better-quality goods and services at subsidized prices.
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