The latest page of the Microsoft vs FTC saga is with us now, and it’s probably not what you expect.
This is the Judge Corley case, filed in federal court, and superseding the internal hearing that FTC planned to hold with Judge Michael Chappel, but didn’t come to pass. Judge Corley ruled in favor of Microsoft, but this is the process of the appeal being held in the 9th court.
So, at this stage of the appeal, outside parties can file their amicus briefs about the case. Microsoft has seen nine separate entities file their amicus briefs, all of which do so in support of Microsoft’s deal to acquire Activision Blizzard King.
As reported by Tom Warren, these special interest groups are the:
• Chamber of Commerce
• CWA union and AFL-CIO
• a group of venture capitalists
• former regulator enforcers
• indie devs – Curve, iam8bit, Finji, Strange Scaffold, Studio Wildcard
• Business Roundtable
• former State AGs
• TechFreedom
• a collection of economists
While the CWA and AFL-CIO represent America’s unions, the Chamber of Commerce is a lobby for the biggest businesses in the country. We had reported on the AFL-CIO’s support for Microsoft’s deal, dating as far back as last year. When you add to that TechFreedom, a think tank that focuses on tech policy, regulators, attorney generals, etc, it’s clear that different political groups from across the aisle have come together to show their support for it.
The amicus brief from the Communications Workers of America in particular was a strong show of support. The CWA also made sure to let the 9th district appeals court know that Sony does not support their unions the way that Microsoft is. In their words:
“Microsoft stands alone among major U.S. video game and technology companies. At this year’s Game Developers Conference, a group of video game workers delivered a letter to Sony’s management asking the company to agree to allow its workers to organize free from retaliation and interference, and Sony chose not to respond.”
It should be noted that Sony was originally opposed to the deal, and was eager to undermine Microsoft’s deal by appearing to regulators. However, after signing an agreement with Microsoft regarding law of duty, they had stopped their participation in these investigations unless legally required.
So, as tempting as it is, this statement should not be framed like Sony needs to be criticized by the defense. Instead, this situation is indicating that the CWA found Sony lacking in terms of their own direct interactions with US unions and union groups.
What we can take from this is what should now be the obvious fact that the unions’ support of this deal is genuine. And that’s because even before this deal came up, Microsoft committed to acknowledging and working with unions. Those other special interest groups are probably sincere too, because they stand to lose something when this deal does not push forward.
