The government was funny (for once)
Plus, our work on broadband, our podcast episode on Theranos, and lots of tweets on social media regulation and antitrust.
Believe it or not, the government can occasionally have a sense of humor. Ever think about the Consumer Protection Safety Commission? Most of us rarely do, but if you saw their Twitter account this morning, you may have stopped dead in your tracks, as I did. The CPSC posted an image that can only be described as mystifying and utterly bizarre. It involves a glowing raccoon — the “Grand Raccoon,” apparently — with his hands raised à la Chancellor Palpatine, as if conjuring a miracle. The woman who stands before him absorbs the energy of his light. Obviously.
This illustrious tweet was intended as a PSA educating Americans about safety measures they can take to protect their families from this week’s heat wave. Interestingly enough, the Grand Raccoon is a recurring character who makes semi-frequent appearances in CPSC lore. In the past, he’s emerged from his lair to offer COVID-19 cleaning product storage tips and winter space heater usage pointers. If only all marketing shops had an ounce of CPSC’s creativity!
Broadband. Corbin had an essay published in The Bulwark last week on the deployment of SpaceX’s Starlink constellation of Internet satellites. As Corbin explains, a rival company is cynically trying to use the National Environmental Policy Act to delay a project that could bring affordable, high-speed broadband service to many of the most remote corners of the world. (“The night sky is at risk!” says a company that is itself trying to launch stuff into the night sky.)
Jim was quoted in an S&P Global article on broadband availability and pricing, emphasizing that the cost dynamics of broadband are more complex than some make them out to be. Simply overbuilding existing providers (especially with government-owned broadband networks as the Biden Executive Order appears to favor) won’t guarantee either lower prices to consumers or increased quality of service.
Theranos. On a new Tech Policy Podcast, Corbin spoke with Sara Randazzo, a reporter with the Wall Street Journal, about the upcoming trial of Elizabeth Holmes. Holmes and her firm, Theranos, tried to fit an entire diagnostic lab into their proprietary “Edison” blood-testing machine. It was a grand goal. It didn’t work out (to put it mildly). In October 2015, the Journal published an investigative report questioning Theranos’s testing practices and the accuracy of the Edison. Holmes now faces prison time for allegedly defrauding investors and patients. Sara and Corbin discuss Holmes’s rise and fall, her trial, and what her case might mean for Silicon Valley start-up culture.
Social Media. Last weekend, the Wall Street Journal published yet another misguided op-ed claiming that social media sites are common carriers. Corbin tweeted a thread summarizing what the piece gets wrong.
Antitrust. Last Friday, Andy tweeted a thread in response to The Heritage Foundation’s report on “Five Conservative Principles to Apply Against Weaponized Antitrust.” Andy highlighted black letter antitrust law and cases underpinning the principles in the report. Ultimately, these are not “conservative” principles. Instead, notions like “Antitrust Should Focus on Consumer Welfare” and “Antitrust Should Not Punish Success” apply across the political spectrum and have gained bipartisan support over the years.
On Thursday, Andy tweeted a thread tying together the FTC’s “adjusted” merger review timeline with two recent stories out of Silicon Valley. In recent weeks, DoorDash and Uber both entered talks to acquire Instacart. On August 3, however, the FTC bucked the traditional procedure for reviewing merger requests, opting instead for an indefinite and open-ended timeline. Consequently, the talks to acquire Instacart fell apart “at least partly due to questions about whether a combination could get approval from antitrust regulators, which, under the Biden administration, are taking a hard line toward most mergers.” Andy pointed out this series of events proved Commissioner Phillips correct when he warned that the FTC’s new stance against mergers will “chill legal [merger] activity.”