Jonathan Kanter: Last News

Activision Blizzard regarding its handling of salaries in Call Of Duty and Overwatch professional scenes.In the lawsuit, the US Government stated that Activision Blizzard’s Competitive Balance Tax in its Overwatch and Call Of Duty leagues limited competition and “suppressed esports players’ wages”.The Competitive Balance Tax forced competing teams to adhere to a salary cap implemented by Activision, meaning they were fined if any of their players were paid above a certain amount.In October 2021, Activision Blizzard told Call Of Duty and Overwatch teams that the Competitive Balance Tax would no longer be enforced, following an investigation by the DOJ.“The Competitive Balance Tax substantially lessened competition between teams in the Overwatch and Call Of Duty Leagues for esports players and limited the players’ compensation,” alleged the DOJ, who added that teams who used most of their salary cap on more expensive players drove down wages for everyone else.If successful, the lawsuit would hit Activision with a financial penalty and order the company to avoid reimplementing anything like the Competitive Balance Tax again.“Professional esports players – like all workers – deserve the benefits of competition for their services,” said Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.

Gail Slater, an aide to JD Vance and former staff attorney at the Federal Trade Commission and former Fox Corp. executive, has been nominated to lead the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division in Donald Trump‘s upcoming term.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Donald Trump‘s return to the White House next year could lead to a new wave of industry consolidation in the media and entertainment biz — and beyond. A second Trump administration is likely to usher in deregulation and “more aggressive M&A activity,” said Lucinda Guthrie, head of financial data company Mergermarket.

The Joe Biden-era Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department have a mixed record in the courts when it comes to fighting mergers, but proposed new guidelines signal a continued effort to slow or block corporate consolidation.

Four Democratic lawmakers want the Justice Department to investigate Warner Bros. Discovery, claiming that the merged company has harmed workers and reduced consumer choice.

The Justice Department and a group of states filed an antitrust suit against Google, claiming that the internet giant has used its “stranglehold” over digital tools to quash threats to its dominance in the ad market.

The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice are launching plans to update and modernize merger enforcement guidelines, something that could mean closer scrutiny of major tech and media transactions.