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Jonathan Kanter – Is Someone Finally Standing Up To Big Tech?
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President Joe Biden this week nominated Jonathan Kanter to head the Justice Department’s antitrust division as the agency gears up for a crackdown on large technology companies.
Lawmakers of both parties celebrated the nomination.
“For years, Jonathan Kanter has been a leader in the effort to increase antitrust enforcement against monopolies by federal, state, and international competition authorities,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). “His deep legal experience and history of advocating for aggressive action make him an excellent choice.”
Kanter, 47, worked as an antitrust lawyer for the FTC. He then joined international law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. He founded his own firm, Kanter Law Group, in 2020.
As a lawyer, Kanter represented Microsoft, Yelp, and other parties in lawsuits against Google’s parent company Alphabet. Like newly-confirmed FTC head Lina Khan, Kanter also believes government must take action to police Big Tech’s anticompetitive/monopolistic conduct.
“Antitrust enforcement is barely on life support,” said Kanter in 2016 (during the Obama Administration). “When was the last time you can remember a major antitrust agency bringing a monopolization case? The reason you can’t remember it is because they haven’t done it.”
If approved by lawmakers, Kanter will take control of the antitrust division as it moves forward with a monopoly lawsuit against Google and an investigation into Apple’s unfair app store practices.
In his new position, Kanter will have complete authority over future lawsuits filed to stop mergers and challenge anticompetitive behavior.
Lawmakers are preparing for the showdown with legislation that will make it easier for the DOJ and FTC to enforce antitrust laws, though it’s possible Google will ask Kanter to recuse himself from the case given his work for the site’s rivals.
Facebook has called on Khan to recuse herself from the FTC’s monopoly case against the site’s acquisition of Instagram (2012) and WhatsApp (2014) based on past statements.
Author’s Note: Kanter seems to be a solid choice. His views are backed by lawmakers of both parties and he is widely respected in the legal community.
Sources:
Biden Names Tech Foe Jonathan Kanter as DOJ Antitrust Chief
President Biden picks Google foe to lead DOJ antitrust as it mulls plan to break up Big Tech
Holy Shit!
Wtf is going on here? Alice, are you actually supporting something Biden is doing? You know this is posted on Punching Nag Post, right?
Is that all you do is bitch?
That’s the difference between the left and the right in this country. Conservatives will at least give credit to someone on the left if they actually do something good or make what seems like a reasonable choice. On the other hand, Leftists never give any credit to anything that a member of the right does that actually does good for the country. For example, the left can’t even find one thing that Trump did which they think is good for the country, though he did have many significant accomplishments which, political agendas aside, actually benefitted the US. I don’t have too much problem with folks disliking Trump for his pugnacious and egotistical personality, but the left just spewed hate just to take him down without regard for his actual policies which did help the country.
Dick,
Do you not read this blog? Luckily it’s Alice, a contributor no one really reads, if Larry had written this, the blog would have to be shut down.
The one thing trump did that I actually agree with is pulling the troops out of Afghanistan by Aug. Biden set a new date, using trump’s plan and the right, including this blog, has gone absolutely crazy in condemning the action.
So, don’t give me that BS, Obama brought us out of the Great Recession. Trump inherited a booming economy and the right gave him all the credit, even though his numbers ( to be fair, up to the pandemic) weren’t as good as Obama’s.
The point stands, Alice took a bold stand in pointing out that someone is finally going to stand up to the monopolies that are ruling over us.