Recorded Briefing—More Data, More Antitrust Scrutiny?

Media Briefing

Featuring:

Maureen K. Ohlhausen, Partner, Baker Botts LLP and Former Acting Chairman, Federal Trade Commission
Alec Stapp, Research Fellow, International Center for Law and Economics

Description:

Critics of large technology companies and online platforms often focus on those enterprises’ collection and use of consumer data, as well as the security of that data, when calling for more aggressive antitrust scrutiny. Some critics declare that data “is the new oil,” and much like the early 20th Century oil barons, Big Tech uses that asset to unlawfully exclude competition and abuse its market power. Our speakers will discuss what role data is playing in high-profile regulatory and legislative investigations, what role data should play under prevailing U.S. competition-law principles, and whether antitrust law is an appropriate tool to address online consumer privacy.

Speakers' Biographies

Maureen K. Ohlhausen

Maureen K. Ohlhausen is Partner with Baker Botts LLP, where she is Practice Group Chair of Antitrust and Competition Law. Before joining the firm, Ms. Ohlhausen served as Acting Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, directing all aspects of the FTC's antitrust work, including merger review and conduct enforcement, and steered all FTC consumer protection enforcement, with a particular emphasis on privacy and technology issues. Prior to her role as Commissioner, Ms. Ohlhausen led the FTC's Internet Access Task Force, headed the FTC practice group at a leading telecommunications firm, and clerked at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In July, Ms. Ohlhausen accepted an appointment to Washington Legal Foundation’s Legal Policy Advisory Board.

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Alec Stapp

Alec Stapp is Research Fellow at the International Center for Law and Economics (ICLE). His research interests include technology policy, antitrust law, and data privacy & security. Mr. Stapp’s work has been cited in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times and published in Salon, CapX, and the National Review. Before joining ICLE, he worked as a technology policy fellow at the Niskanen Center in Washington, D.C. and as an MA fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Arlington, VA. Prior to that, Mr. Stapp worked in operations at a startup company in Phoenix, Arizona.

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