Venable of counsel Robert Davis was quoted in the January 2, 2013 issue of Policy and Regulatory Report on a perceived technology gap at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and how a new chairman might solve the potential problem. Allen Grunes, a former antitrust attorney at the Department of Justice (DOJ) said the FTC’s is lagging because current chairman, Jon Leibowitz, has prioritized other issues.
Davis, a former FTC attorney-advisor to Leibowitz, disagreed with the assessment saying, “While I generally agree with Allen's view of the importance of innovation concerns on antitrust, I think he places the weight of a major conclusion – that there is a sort of ‘digital divide’ between the agencies regarding how they treat innovation – on a very slender reed: his implicit view that the Universal/EMI deal would have come out differently in the US if the antitrust division evaluated it.” Davis added there is no reason to think antitrust reviews hinge on agency leadership or which agency examines a deal, saying, “All antitrust is fact-based.”
Davis, a former FTC attorney-advisor to Leibowitz, disagreed with the assessment saying, “While I generally agree with Allen's view of the importance of innovation concerns on antitrust, I think he places the weight of a major conclusion – that there is a sort of ‘digital divide’ between the agencies regarding how they treat innovation – on a very slender reed: his implicit view that the Universal/EMI deal would have come out differently in the US if the antitrust division evaluated it.” Davis added there is no reason to think antitrust reviews hinge on agency leadership or which agency examines a deal, saying, “All antitrust is fact-based.”