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The Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have announced that the agencies will host a series of hearings in spring 2006 devoted to developing a deeper understanding of the circumstances in which specific types of single-firm conduct are likely to be pro-competitive or anticompetitive. 

The hearings will "critically examine and discuss" standards applied in DOJ and FTC enforcement actions, including the Microsoft, American Airlines, Dentsply, Intel, Unocal, and Rambus cases.  The hearings will also review private monopolization actions, such as the Trinko and LePage's cases. 

According to Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division Thomas O. Barnett, the hearings are intended to advance the proper treatment of single-firm conduct as well as assist with the articulation of clear standards to help businesses comply with antitrust laws.  FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras noted that the hearings are important because over-enforcement in the context of single firm conduct "leads to high false positives that chills pro-competitive behavior that benefits consumers," while under-enforcement "may result in false negatives in which firms continue to engage in exclusionary conduct that harms consumers." 

The agencies additionally announced that an upcoming notice in the Federal Register will solicit public comment on the specific types of single-firm conduct that raise antitrust concerns in both regulated and unregulated industries.  We will provide additional information on this notice as well as the dates of the announced hearings when such information becomes available. 

The DOJ/FTC joint press release on the hearings can be found at http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/press_releases/2005/213369.htm.