Author:Amanda Meyer
Government Agencies Unite to Regulate Corporate Greed in Healthcare Systems
The Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the Department of Health and Human Services are working together to gather information on healthcare transactions, including various nonreportable deals and anticompetitive practices that harm patient’s health, safety, quality of care and affordability.
FTC Reaches Two Epic Settlements with Fortnite’s Maker
The FTC has settled its largest refund amount and established its largest administrative order in the history of the department and gaming industry. This settlement and administrative order were both with gaming giant, Epic Games. Epic Games is the owner of video games such as Gears of War, Dauntless, and Fortnite. The company has an estimated yearly gross income of $907 million a year, with a vast majority of its revenue coming from Fortnite. Fortnite is Epic Games’s most popular game, with over 400 million users worldwide, many of those users being young adults and teens.
No “Moore” Realization Events?
In June 2024, the Supreme Court will decide on a case that may completely upend one third of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). Moore v. United States calls into question whether the 16th Amendment authorizes Congress to tax unrealized gains without apportionment among the states.
Amazon is FTC’s New “Prime” Suspect
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 17 state attorneys brought a lawsuit against Amazon on September 26, 2023 claiming that Amazon is engaging in illegal activities to solidify their monopolistic grip on the online retail marketplace.
Microsoft is “Leveling Up”: Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision
On January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced that it will be acquiring Activision Blizzard, one of the world’s largest gaming corporations. This will be Microsoft’s biggest acquisition in the company’s history. The acquisition is an all-cash purchase, with Microsoft paying $95 per Activision share, totaling to around $68.7 billion dollars. Microsoft and Activision had an original signing date to complete the merger agreement on July 18, 2023, but the companies pushed the date back to October 18 amid regulatory pushback. Although the merger is exciting news for many companies and individuals, other are less than enthused about the new development.
New York Non-Competes: Competing to Stay Alive
There is an ever-growing wave of states banning non-compete agreements (“non-competes”), and New York is likely to join this trend. The New York Legislature just passed one of the broadest non-compete bans in the history of the United States in early June this year, and Governor Kathy Hochul is likely to sign this ban into effect. This broad non-compete ban comes in the form of two bills, both passed by the New York Senate. One bill would ban post-employment non-competes, and the other would prohibit employers from having employees enter into a non-compete, absent a “good faith basis”. If signed by Governor Hochul, these bills will become effective 30 days after signing. These bills will be prospective, meaning they will not invalidate preexisting non-competes signed on or before July 1st, 2023.