Question Market-Distorting Business Rules, DOJ's Delrahim Says, Citing Ticketing App, Tesla Targeting

Business regulations can have a legitimate policy reason for existing but are also anticompetitive and distort the market and need to be examined to see if they are justified, said DOJ antitrust chief Makan Delrahim at an agency antitrust roundtable Thursday, according to prepared remarks. He cited Justice filing a statement of interest in March on TIKD Services' lawsuit against the Florida Bar about the company's app helping dispute traffic tickets as an example of the market potentially "us[ing] states as tools for their anticompetitive goals." He said Michigan's sales law preventing direct sales of new cars to consumers, seemingly aimed at Tesla, is "a particularly troubling example of how incumbents can work to craft regulations laser-focused on preventing entry." Public Knowledge said Senior Counsel John Bergmayer discussed the need for reform to the broadcast compulsory license and retransmission consent regime, including a rollback of the network nonduplication and syndicated exclusivity rules and elimination of basic tier buy-through rules. “In some areas, the problem is a lack of FCC rules," Bergmayer said. "In some areas, a lack of enforcement. But in some areas rules that benefit incumbents that no longer need government protection stick around far past their expiration date." The Center for Individual Freedom also cited retrans (see 1805300067).