Antitrust Flies High: Is the Orbitz Investigation Good News for Consumers?
POLICY FORUMThursday, June 27, 2002
12:00 p.m.
Featuring Gary Doernhoefer, General Counsel, Orbitz; James V. DeLong, Senior Fellow, Competitive Enterprise Institute; Andrew B. Steinberg, Former Executive VP and General Counsel, Travelocity.com; Thomas M. Lenard, VP, Progress and Freedom Foundation; and Robert D. Atkinson, VP, Progressive Policy Institute.
The Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
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Cyberspace is not exempt from the attention of antitrust enforcers, a fact made most clear by the Microsoft case. Now Orbitz, which is owned by several airlines and sells tickets on the Web, faces scrutiny from the departments of Justice and Transportation. Is such cooperation among competing airlines in the online world a legitimate manifestation of market processes? Or is it unjustifiable collusion? Finally, what are the implications of the Orbitz investigation for other online ventures and, more generally, for antitrust in cyberspace?