Microsoft / Activision Deal Leaves Sony Stans in Shambles | M$ Wins Fight Against FTC

[Pull Up the Roots]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/01/19/microsoft-antitrust-lobbying-washington-reputation/

When Google announced in 2019 that it would acquire Fitbit for $2 billion, lawmakers didn’t hide their frustration.
“By attempting this deal at this moment, Google is signaling that it will continue to flex and expand its power despite this immense scrutiny,” Rep. David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.), chairman of the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, said in a statement the same day the deal was announced.

But more than 24 hours after Microsoft announced its plans to purchase Activision for nearly $70 billion, aggressive trustbusters in Congress were uncharacteristically quiet. Core sponsors of antitrust legislation targeting the tech industry, including Cicilline, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) did not immediately comment to The Washington Post on the deal.

The silence underscores how Microsoft has carved out a distinct reputation among policymakers, distancing itself from the political scrutiny embroiling its top competitors in Washington. As Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Google were marshaling their Washington resources to beat back competition legislation up for debate on Capitol Hill this week, Microsoft smoothly announced one of the largest acquisitions in the history of the tech industry. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

The company had apparently deputized its reputation with lawmakers to assure them about the deal. Rep. Ken Buck (Colo.), the top Republican on the House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee who has supported legislation aimed at major tech companies, told The Post that he received “encouraging” assurances about how the company would ensure competition in gaming.

[...]

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who has called for the breakup of large tech companies, said Wednesday that antitrust officials should scrutinize “any multibillion-dollar merger.”

“I have real concerns about how Microsoft’s proposed acquisition will affect workers given that concentrated corporate power can exacerbate unfair labor practices, including those reported against Activision,” she said in a statement. “A few giant corporations already dominate the gaming industry, and this deal raises questions about a level playing field for entrepreneurs and small publishers to compete.”
Microsoft, like other tech titans, is a major lobbying spender in Washington. But industry officials say the company has been more effective than its peers because of its long-running relationships and has a protracted legacy because of its early policy battles.

“Microsoft’s D.C. office is a generation older than most tech companies,” said Nu Wexler, who previously worked in policy communications for Twitter, Google and Facebook in Washington. “They’ve had time to build relationships on Capitol Hill while people were hiring and setting up PACs.”

At the center of those relationships is Microsoft President Brad Smith, the company’s most visible envoy to Washington. Smith, who joined the company in the 1990s and played a key role in its antitrust battles, has testified on Capitol Hill multiple times, including at least four times in 2021. Cicilline thanked him last year for “his assistance” during the course of lawmakers’ investigation into other large tech companies.

Smith has sought to position his testimony on regulation as bigger than just Microsoft or any single company, warning that policymakers risk moving “too slow” to address these problems.

There are also fewer political rewards to gain from attacking Microsoft, because of its reputation as a staid enterprise tech business. The company does not necessarily generate the same headlines as social media, smartphones or e-commerce, according to Harry First, co-director of the Competition, Innovation and Information Law program at New York University.

Microsoft has seized on that distinction, at times advocating for regulation that could hurt the business interests of social media companies. Smith told The Post in 2019 that Section 230, a provision of law that protects companies from lawsuits over content created by their users, has outlived its utility.

“Section 230 had a place and time, but that time is now over,” he said in a 2019 interview.

And last year, Smith advocated for legislation targeting Facebook and Google. He called for the United States and other countries to adopt legislation similar to an Australian proposal that would force tech companies to pay publishers for news.

In The Post, he accused social media companies of becoming “powerful engines of disinformation” and warned that without new guardrails, politicians would exploit social media. He also criticized strong-arm tactics that Facebook and Google used to battle the Australian proposal.

 

[FromStLouis]

Sony Stans

 

[Pull Up the Roots]

MAGA

 

[TripleAgent]

If this is that "We don't care about COD, we just want to stop your merger" crack (it probably is), all you Sony brehs @Gizmo_Duck @Rekkapryde @Fatboi1 and whoever else that shyt on Phil all day, calling for him to be fired, need to aim all that at your boy Jim if the deal happens. Whatever favor he called in at the CMA, he threw out the window being arrogant and stupid enough to say this publicly while the shyt is ongoing. Now it's official record. What a moron

This might be 2023's "get an extra job to pay for a PS3"

 

[Rekkapryde]

If this is that "We don't care about COD, we just want to stop your merger" crack (it probably is), all you Sony brehs @Gizmo_Duck @Rekkapryde @Fatboi1 and whoever else that shyt on Phil all day, calling for him to be fired, need to aim all that at your boy Jim if the deal happens. Whatever favor he called in at the CMA, he threw out the window being arrogant and stupid enough to say this publicly while the shyt is ongoing. Now it's official record. What a moron

This might be 2023's "get an extra job to pay for a PS3"

He’s still a clown and the only reason Xbox still in the game is Daddy Nadella’s pockets


As far as this shyt is concerned, I don’t care

The hearing is on August 2nd with the FTC so not really paying attention until then

Win or lose as long as my Microsoft and Sony stock continues to increase, I’m Gucci.

 

[PS5 Pro]

He’s still a clown and the only reason Xbox still in the game is Daddy Nadella’s pockets

You salty as fukk my boy

As far as this shyt is concerned, I don’t care

Oh you big mad

The hearing is on August 2nd with the FTC so not really paying attention until then

Win or lose as long as my Microsoft and Sony stock continues to increase, I’m Gucci.

You know Sony losing when rekka starts talking about stock in both

 

[FromStLouis]

just get an xbox breh

 

[ALonelyDad]

Florian is a guy who is banned from multiple sites, not the guy you want to post for accurate reporting

 

[TripleAgent]

He’s still a clown and the only reason Xbox still in the game is Daddy Nadella’s pockets


As far as this shyt is concerned, I don’t care

The hearing is on August 2nd with the FTC so not really paying attention until then

Win or lose as long as my Microsoft and Sony stock continues to increase, I’m Gucci.

Strawman. Nothing to do with Jim's colossal fukk up. Never the same energy with you fanboys

 

[MeachTheMonster]

Florian is a guy who is banned from multiple sites, not the guy you want to post for accurate reporting

No.

He was only banned from resetera for being correct in the face of all the sony stan’s there being wrong a bunch of times. Resetera bans anyone going against the hive mind.

He clearly wants the merger to go through. But he is literally the only person involved that does this for a living. He’s actually been a paid analyst in other mergers. And he’s the only one actually sitting in these courtrooms in person and reporting on what was said.

Most of his reporting is without opinion. Just facts and info

 

[ALonelyDad]

No.

He was only banned from resetera for being correct in the fave of all the sony stan’s there being wrong a bunch of times. Resetera band anyone going against the hive mind.

He clearly wants the merger to go through. But he is literally the only person involved that does this for a living. He’s actually been a paid analyst in other mergers. And he’s the only one actually sitting in these courtrooms in person and reporting on what was said.

Most of his reporting is without opinion. Just facts and info

he isn't just banned from there lol

 

[MeachTheMonster]

If this is that "We don't care about COD, we just want to stop your merger" crack (it probably is), all you Sony brehs @Gizmo_Duck @Rekkapryde @Fatboi1 and whoever else that shyt on Phil all day, calling for him to be fired, need to aim all that at your boy Jim if the deal happens. Whatever favor he called in at the CMA, he threw out the window being arrogant and stupid enough to say this publicly while the shyt is ongoing. Now it's official record. What a moron

This might be 2023's "get an extra job to pay for a PS3"

Sony CEO recently came out talking about how difficult, and small the cloud market is too.

They’ve tried to block the merger but the truth keeps betraying them

 

[MeachTheMonster]

he isn't just banned from there lol

There’s nowhere else relevant to be banned from.

 

[SCJoe]

he isn't just banned from there lol

I thought resetera banned him because he basically doxed that the Idas leaker dude had to work foror with Sony based on the information he had and how he was distributing it. He had it down to the country. They got him outta there right after that.

 

[MeachTheMonster]

I thought resetera banned him because he basically doxed that the Idas leaker dude had to work foror with Sony based on the information he had and how he was distributing it. He had it down to the country. They got him outta there right after that.

Yup


This is why he was banned and shunned from the sony stan community.

For calling out this dudes lies and inaccuracies