DOJ Out Of Hibernation

The Obama administration recently warned corporate America the Department of Justice will grow teeth and aggressively investigate antitrust cases, including those involving vertical monopolies – a statement that some believe is directed at Intel Corp. and Google more than the Ticketmaster / Live Nation merger.

Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney said the DOJ is abandoning legal guidelines established by the George W. Bush administration in September 2008, guidelines that were criticized because they made it difficult to pursue antitrust cases against big firms.

Varney laid out the new policy in a speech to the Center for American Progress in Washington May 11.

“There was a high cost to standing aside. We must change course and take a new tack,” she said.

Intel is enmeshed in an antitrust case with European Union regulators, and the DOJ is reviewing a proposed legal settlement with authors and publishers that would expand Google’s digital library of books that some view as a monopoly. Varney insisted her remarks weren’t aimed at any particular company or industry.

“Look, when you become successful and you have market power, however you define it, you need to pay attention to the rules,” she said.

“We now know what direction Ms. Varney wants to take the antitrust enforcement but exactly how far she will go will only be known when it’s played out in particular cases,” said Bruce McDonald, a lawyer and former antitrust official in the Bush Justice Department.