Ilhaam Lakhani

Independent Research GT
3 March 2019
Period 2
Transcription:
*transcription starts from beginning
Ilhaam:
Ok so my first question is In recent years, Companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook have
been concentrating so much power in the market industry. How is it possible for these companies
to become monopolies even after antitrust reforms processes have been made?
Mr. Feeney:
Monopolies by definitions have no competition, and since google is wide ranging you would
have to define what google does and see how other companies compete with google. Though it
may be dominant in may not be a monopoly. For the second component for your question,
Mergers are what the securities and exchange committees look at. For example there was the
recently attempted merger between AT&T and time warner where the current executive
administration tried to block for some valid/not valid reasons and AT&T won the case and went
to DC court of appeals to allow merger and administration will not challenge that. In that
decision the court will lay out the standards of the causes of the mergers and why the merger
would be prevented or why it wouldn't be.
Ilhaam: Oh that is very interesting. I will definitely go look more into this case as well. ANother
question i have is What do you perceive are the weaknesses of the Clayton antitrust act and
Sherman Antitrust Act which are allowing these actions to occur? In your opinion what do you
believe is the most prominent issue with the Clayton antitrust act of 1980 which is allowing in
the concentration of power?
Feeney: While a decision for a case occurs, the court will lay out the standards of the causes of
the mergers and why the merger would be prevented or why it wouldn't be.
Furthermore, I do not now the weaknesses of the sherman and clayton antitrust act because I am
not an antitrust lawyer. However, Under massachusetts law i have brought cases for anti
competitive activities. Although I does suggest to go to law review articles in law students which
could help find the flaws in the antitrust act. Lawyers know much more usually than the judge
and to do law review article which lawyers research could be helpful for this particular question.
Ilhaam: That is very helpful. Thank you! ANother question I have is that, In your opinion, what
would be the best route to prevent monopolies from occurring. More specifically, what specific
measures could be taken to improve government regulation and competition policy for
monopolies?
Feeney: I don't know. I suggest the best route to take would be to look at law review articles,
they have a lot of information which could be super helpful.
Ilhaam: I will definitely go look for some law review articles! Also do you know if there is any
current action being taken against Google, Amazon, or Facebook by the government? If so, what
is specific measures are being taken to try to prevent these monopolies from gaining more
power?
Mr. Feeney: I do not know. However, it is your job at students to find out.
Ilhaam: That is definitely true. My last question is What are Maryland's antitrust regulations?
Are the regulations here more effective in preventing monopolies from occurring? If so, why is it
more effective?
Feeney: So, Each State has its own antitrust act so look at the different states acts have different
protections varying in each state. The federal government has lowest protection and then states
are free to give more protection. Look at law review articles about this. They are super helpful
and have extensive information about the questions you are asking. Look at the federal gov vs
maryland antitrust act word by word and if there is even a single word that so different that could
change everything. Lawyers always look for inconsistencies and what's different. That is
especially through with legislative laws. They look for all the differences when reading the drafts
made.
Ilhaam: Oh really, so the federal government has minimal protection?
Feeney: Yes it does.
Ilhaam: That means there could be several varying differences between of the level of protection
for the Maryland Antitrust laws and the Federal government Antitrust Laws.
Feeny: That is absolutely correct. Also, remember I told you to check the Sherman Antitrust act
Ilhaam: Yes I did.
Feeney: And what did you find?
Ilhaam: There were several loosely phrased words which allowed companies like the oil
company to continue to control 95% of the oil industry without being caught.
Feeney: That is true. These small differences are crucial when it comes to assessing these laws.
Keep that in mind.
Ilhaam: Thank you for all of your help! I really appreciated.
Feeney: No problem. If you want to meet anytime next week, just email me.
Overall my interview went good. Though the advisor was not a specialist in my field and
did not have the answers I was looking for he did give me a lot of information to look at. He
showed me several cases such as the AT&T case. Furthermore, they pointed out law reviews to
look for as they are great sources of information written from law students studying these topics
extensively. However, one thing that was hard was getting comfortable with the advisor, because
when you have a stranger in front of you all your questions and ideas come to a halt. It takes
some time in order to open up, be comfortable, and get the time to ask in depth questions. This
time my advisor gave me a couple of sources that i briefly looked over. Next time i have an
interviewer I would take more time and go in depth regarding the articles he sent me so i am
better prepared for the interview and have something to talk about.