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Welcome to the Voluntary Trade Council

The Voluntary Trade Council is a research center dedicated to antitrust and competition regulation. Working in the tradition of the Austrian School of economics, VTC offers free-market criticism of the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice and other agencies that intervene to prevent the voluntary exchange of goods, services and ideas.

Microsoft-Yahoo!

Alex Epstein, an analyst at the Ayn Rand Institute, has published an op-ed explaining why antitrust regulators should not get in the way of any potential combinations of Microsoft, Google and Yahoo! Esptein notes, "What we are observing in the battle over Yahoo! is not genuine, merit-based competition, but competition based on political pull." You can read Epstein's article, "Set Yahoo! Free," at this link.

PATENT HOLD UP

Bruce Kobayashi and Joshua Wright of George Mason University recently posted an article examining "restraint when applying the antitrust laws to conduct that is normally regulated by state and other federal laws," specifcially the use of antitrust "to regulate the problem of patent hold up of members of standard setting organizations." You can download their paper at this link.

Mises.org

S.M. Oliva, president of the Voluntary Trade Council, authored an article for the Ludwig von Mises Institute on Mark and Marianne Hershiser's landmark First Amendment lawsuit against the Federal Trade Commission. You can read the article, "Consumer Protection or Legal Extortion?" at this link.

IP & Antitrust

Damien Geradin, a professor at Tilburg University and a partner at Howrey LLP, recently presented a paper entitled, "What's Wrong with Royalties in High Technology Industries?" which focuses on royalties paid by companies seeking to implement industry standards, such as those at issue in the FTC's case against Rambus. You can dowload the paper at this link.

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Voluntary Trade Council Press Releases
Judges Back FTC Over Whole Foods PDF Print E-mail
Written by VoluntaryTrade.org Staff   
Tuesday, 29 July 2008 11:20

Arlington, Virginia (July 29, 2008) -- Two judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington DC abruptly reversed an earlier decision by the same court that allowed Whole Foods Markets, Inc., to complete its acquisition of Wild Oats Markets, Inc., over the objections of the Federal Trade Commission. In a series of opinions issued today, the D.C. Circuit now said it was wrong for a district court judge to deny the FTC's demand for a preliminary injunction to prevent the now-completed merger pending an FTC-controlled administrative hearing.
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Statement on Rambus Appeal PDF Print E-mail
Written by VoluntaryTrade.org staff   
Friday, 06 June 2008 18:57

Arlington, Virginia (June 6, 2008) -- S.M. Oliva, president of the Voluntary Trade Council, issued the following statement tonight regarding Rambus v. Federal Trade Commission:
Last Updated ( Monday, 09 June 2008 21:08 )
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Inova, PWHS Abandon Merger PDF Print E-mail
Written by VoluntaryTrade.org Staff   
Friday, 06 June 2008 09:33

Arlington, Virginia (June 6, 2008) -- Facing a rigged trial with no reasonable chance of success, Inova Health System and Prince William Health System (PWHS) abandoned their planned merger, according to a press release issued today by the two not-for-profit hospital groups.
Last Updated ( Friday, 06 June 2008 09:52 )
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Fifth Circuit Legalizes FTC Price Fixing PDF Print E-mail
Written by VoluntaryTrade.org Staff   
Tuesday, 20 May 2008 22:38

Arlington, Virginia (May 21, 2008) – The Federal Trade Commission may fix prices for physician services under the pretext of enforcing the antitrust laws, a federal appeals court held last week.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 21 May 2008 10:19 )
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Oliva Urges Kovacic to End Rambus Case PDF Print E-mail
Written by VoluntaryTrade.org Staff   
Monday, 19 May 2008 22:27
Today Skip Oliva, president of the Voluntary Trade Council, sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission Chairman William E. Kovacic urging the FTC not to appeal the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Rambus v. FTC. You can download a copy of Oliva's letter at this link.
 
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Suggested Reading

Antitrust: The Case for Repeal
Dominick T. Armentano
2nd ed. 1999
Purchase from Mises.org

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Markets Don't Fail!
Brian P. Simpson
2005
Purchase from Amazon

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The Antitrust Religion
Edwin S. Rockefeller
2007
Purchase from Cato.org
Read the review

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Winners, Losers & Microsoft
Liebowitz & Margolis
1999
Purchase from Independent Institute

 
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