February 25, 2008

FTC Punts On Sports Complaint

The FTC will not investigate a complaint that Major League Baseball, the National Football League and media giants misrepresent their legal rights through deceptive and intimidating statements during sports telecasts.

The complaint was filed last summer by the Computer and Communications Industry Association, which argued that the strong copyright warnings are aimed at intimidating rather than educating consumers.

For the full story, see this afternoon's CongressDailyPM.

Posted at 11:46 AM
Posted to: Trade
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January 28, 2008

Liveblogging President Bush's Final State Of The Union Address

End note. SOTU affairs are always a laundry list, and few expect them to deliver poetry. This year's address (full text) did lack the rhetorical punch of previous years, particularly Bush's first SOTU address following 9/11, which received very high marks.

If there is one character trait that describes this president, it is determination-bordering-on-
stubbornness. He has largely ignored polls and the punditry, and he only changed tacks in Iraq when the calls for a change in course permeated his own administration. Plenty of Americans didn't tune in to this speech tonight, on the assumption Bush is a lame duck. That is probably not the case, at least as far as the legislature is concerned.

With his veto threat and the executive order coming Tuesday, Bush is asserting himself in a dramatic way. The rate of federal spending under Bush's watch is triple that of the Clinton administration. That Bush is positioning himself to put a foot down on pork-barrel spending was pretty unexpected in his final year in office. We'll be watching to see how it pans out.

As for Bush's various claims in tonight's speech, NPR's reporters have been posting fact checks all evening. See their corrections on the tax cuts, FISA, Iraq and entitlement reform. Good night.

10:27. A somewhat unexpected criticism of the president here: "In spite of the attempts to convince us that we are divided as a people, a new American majority has come together. We are tired of leaders who rather than asking what we can do for our country, ask nothing of us at all.

"We are Americans sharing a belief in something greater than ourselves, a nation coming together to meet challenges and find solutions; to share sacrifices and share prosperity; and focus, once again, not only on the individual good but on the common good."

It should come as little surprise that Sebelius has endorsed Barack Obama. This speech reflects Democrats' palpable eagerness to move the country well away from the Bush era.

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Posted at 10:47 PM
Posted to: Barack Obama, Bush Administration, Campaigns, Climate Change, Congress, Democrats, Economy, Hillary Rodham Clinton, House, Iraq, Middle East, Military, President Bush, Senate, Taxes, Terrorism, Trade, Veterans, WH 2008
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December 21, 2007

WTO Issues Decision On Internet Gambling Case

The World Trade Organization issued a decision [PDF] today regarding Antigua and Barbuda's request to impose $3.4 billion in retaliatory measures against the United States for allegedly violating its WTO commitments. The WTO said Antigua can use annual trade sanctions against the U.S. retroactive to April 2006 for the amount of $21 million until the U.S. reaches compliance with the WTO. The WTO also ruled that Antigua's sanctions may target U.S. intellectual property.

"Considering that Antigua and Barbuda were asking for over $3 billion in compensation, and they were only awarded a token $21 million, this decision is a partial victory for the U.S.," said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va. "However, I remain concerned about how these countries could extract these sanctions from unrelated U.S. companies, like those in the intellectual property and banking industries."

"I will continue to closely monitor this situation and work with other U.S. policymakers and businesses to mitigate the decision's impact on U.S. industries," continued Goodlatte, who sponsored legislation banning online gambling last year.

Greg Frazier, executive vice president of worldwide government policy for the Motion Picture Association of America, warned of possible repercussions from the ruling. "We have made clear from the outset of the case that if Antigua were to suspend its intellectual property rights obligations in retaliation, we believe such a move -- which would be virtually unprecedented in WTO disputes -- would put Antigua at odds with some of its other international obligations as well as raise questions about its eligibility for certain U.S. trade preference programs," he said.

"Also, as a practical matter we have serious questions about how such a decision could be effectively managed to avoid damage beyond the amount of compensation in the WTO decision," Frazier added.

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Posted at 4:53 PM
Posted to: Congress, Economy, House, Trade
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December 20, 2007

FTC Clears Google Acquisition Of DoubleClick

The Federal Trade Commission said today it will not block Google's proposed $3.1 billion acquisition of Internet advertising server DoubleClick.

In a 4-1 vote, the commission wrote that "after carefully reviewing the evidence, we have concluded that Google's proposed acquisition of DoubleClick is unlikely to substantially lessen competition."

"The FTC's strong support sends a clear message: this acquisition poses no risk to competition and will benefit consumers," Eric Schmidt, chairman and CEO of Google, said in a statement.

During its nearly eight-month review of the proposed transaction, the commission found the consumer privacy issues that had been raised are "not unique to Google and DoubleClick," and "extend to the entire online advertising marketplace." An FTC official clarified the decision: Unless the privacy interests raised in a proposed merger are connected to competition, the commission found that it lacks legal authority to block a transaction on these grounds.

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December 13, 2007

Liveblogging The Final Dem Debate Of 2007!

4:10. All over, no more debates until next year, hurray!

Up until a couple of months ago, there seemed to be a critical mass of Democratic support building behind Clinton, in part because of her metamorphosis into a suddenly "human" and likable politician and the assumption that the Clinton machine could best take on the Republican nominee next year. The political press carried on that change vs. experience debate all summer and into the early fall.

But now the nomination fight has been upended, and polls [PDF] show (subscription) that Obama and Edwards are viable in general election matchups, too. That eliminates for some voters their primary thesis for supporting Clinton, and it's why she's been struggling to stay afloat this month.

Most of us can look forward to relaxing with family in a week or so, but for the presidential contenders and Iowans it's closing arguments time. One thought to keep in mind: Part of the shifting around in this field and in the GOP as well is that the Iraq war has largely dropped out of the debate. Iraq no longer dominates the front page because of the decrease in violence and because of the campaigns. That changes in March at the latest, when Gen. David Petraeus is due back in Washington to report on the ground situation. We know the military part of the surge is working, but we are not much farther than we were in September on political reconciliation. The "what's next?" question is still hanging out there, unanswered. The GOP front-runners have more or less indicated loyalty to the Bush administration's policies, so answers will have to come from the Democratic field.

Early reactions: boring, boring, nice, snark.

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Posted at 4:10 PM
Posted to: Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Campaigns, Christopher Dodd, Democrats, Economy, Education, Health, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Iraq, John Edwards, Joseph Biden, Middle East, Republicans, Taxes, Trade, WH 2008
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November 30, 2007

Schwab Hails China's Decision To Halt Contested Subsidies

China yesterday agreed to end subsidies challenged by the United States as a violation of world trade rules, a move touted by the Bush administration as proof that its policy of engagement is working. "I think this announcement makes clear that the administration's policy of serious dialogue and resolute enforcement is delivering real results," U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said. "It clearly shows the wisdom of this approach over some legislative approaches that would simply impose retaliatory tariffs."

Schwab said the subsidies, which were the subject of a World Trade Organization case the United States filed in February, had provided significant benefits to China-based exporters across a range of industries, including steel, wood products and information technology. A U.S. official said the United States had made no concessions. China has agreed to terminate the subsidies by the end of the year.

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Posted at 7:48 AM
Posted to: Asia, China, Trade
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