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The FTC's Effort to Block Microsoft's Activision Acquisition Will Test Biden's Antitrust Legacy
It’s official. After months of rumors, the Federal Trade Commission this week voted 3-1 in favor of suing to block Microsoft’s estimated $69 billion acquisition of video game giant Activision Blizzard.
The forthcoming legal battle represents the most significant antitrust challenge from the Biden-era FTC to date that has, up until now, had few tangible victories to back up its progressive, anti-monopolist rhetoric. The challenge’s success or failures could play a large factor in determining whether or the Biden administration can live up to its image as an aggressive antitrust maverick.
In a press release Thursday, the FTC argued the acquisition, if allowed to occur, would let Microsoft suppress competitors to its own Xbox gaming console and its growing cloud gaming business. Microsoft, according to the FTC, had already demonstrated a pattern of acquiring big name game studios like Bethesda only to make their titles exclusive to Microsoft’s platform.
“Microsoft has already shown that it can and will withhold content from its gaming rivals,” FTC Bureau Director of Competition Holly Vedova said in a statement. “Today we seek to stop Microsoft from gaining control over a leading independent game studio and using it to harm competition in multiple dynamic and fast-growing gaming markets.”
The FTC vote comes just days after Microsoft announced it intended to bring Activision’s massively popular Call of Duty franchise to Steam and Nintendo consoles. Sony, Microsoft’s primary competitor in the console gaming sector, shot down an offer to keep the franchise on Playstation for 10 years. Sony has opposed the acquisition outright and claimed the deal would have, “major negative implications for gamers and the future of the gaming industry.”
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith commented publicly on the FTC’s decision and expressed confidence in the acquisition which he believes would, “expand competition and create more opportunities for gamers and game developers.”
“We have been committed since Day One to addressing competition concerns, including by offering earlier this week proposed concessions to the FTC,” Smith said on Twitter. “While we believe in giving peace a chance, we have complete confidence in our case and welcome the opportunity to present it in court.”
The FTC’s vote to block the Activision acquisition was praised by consumer advocacy groups, some of which had spent months urging regulators to take a more proactive approach towards large acquisition attempts.
“Microsoft’s attempt to acquire Activision is unlawful, and it’s not particularly close,” American Economic Liberties Project Executive Director Sarah Miller said in a statement sent to Gizmodo. “The FTC made the right call. Microsoft’s flurry of last-minute promises to not abuse the market power that they’d gain from this deal reinforce its underlying illegality.”
The agency’s decision also received praise from Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who’s previously introduced antitrust legislation targeting growing consolidation across multiple industries.
“Corporate monopolies have had free rein to hike prices and harm workers, but now the Biden admin is committed to promoting competition,” Warren said.
https://gizmodo.com/microsoft-xbox-call-of-duty-activision-blizzard-1849871936
https://twitter.com/BradSmi/status/1600940065399533568?
https://twitter.com/SenWarren/status/1600943443408457730?
NASA Taps Collins Aerospace to Develop New Space Station Spacesuits
NASA has awarded a task order to Collins Aerospace to deliver a spacewalking system for potential use outside the International Space Station.
This award – the second under NASA’s Exploration EVA Services contract – is for design and development of a next-generation spacesuit and support systems. The task order has a base value of $97.2 million.
Collins Aerospace will complete a critical design review and demonstrate use of the suit on Earth in a simulated space environment by January 2024. NASA will have the option to extend the contract for a demonstration with agency crew members outside the space station by April 2026.
With this second award for a new suit and system, NASA is another step closer to a replacement for the current design used by NASA astronauts for decades during space shuttle and space station missions. The new suit will support continued station maintenance and operations as NASA and its international partners continue to perform scientific research that benefit humanity and is crucial to future Artemis missions to the Moon in preparation for Mars.
“We look forward to obtaining another much-needed service under our contract,” said Lara Kearney, manager of the Extravehicular Activity and Human Surface Mobility Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, which manages the spacesuit contract. “By working with industry, NASA is able to continue its over 22-year legacy of maintaining a presence in low-Earth orbit.”
Under the indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract, both Collins Aerospace, as well as Axiom, which was awarded an initial task order award for Artemis suits, provided proposals to meet both station and Artemis requirements. Both vendors will continue to compete for future task orders which include recurring services for station spacewalks and moonwalks beyond Artemis III.
Collins will be responsible for the design, development, qualification, certification, and production of its station spacesuits and support equipment to meet NASA’s key requirements. The agency will continue to maintain the authority to manage astronaut training, spacewalk planning, and approval of the service systems.
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-taps-collins-aerospace-to-develop-new-space-station-spacesuits
https://www.nasa.gov/suitup
NASA loses contact with ICON atmosphere-studying satellite in Earth orbit
NASA recently lost contact with an atmosphere-studying satellite working beyond its design lifetime.
NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) fell out of contact on Nov. 25, and the mission team has not been able to hail the spacecraft in the weeks since, agency officials wrote in a brief statement(opens in new tab) on Wednesday (Dec. 7).
"The team is currently still working to establish a connection," NASA officials wrote. "Working with the Department of Defense's Space Surveillance Network, the team has verified that ICON remains intact."
ICON's hardware includes a "command loss timer" designed to reset the spacecraft if it doesn't talk to ground controllers for eight days. But the spacecraft remains silent after the reset completed on Monday (Dec. 5), NASA added in the blog post.
ICON, which launched in October 2019, is exploring facets of Earth's ionosphere that other spacecraft have not looked for before. The ionosphere — a layer of Earth's atmosphere that stretches from roughly 50 miles to 400 miles (80 to 640 kilometers) above our planet — changes constantly with solar radiation. Such variations can affect communications technologies.
The mission passed its two-year prime mission in December 2021 and is working under an extended mission.
Troubleshooting continues, as the mission team explores the probable source of the issue to "problems within the avionics or radio-frequency communications subsystems," NASA officials added.
It is unclear right now whether the spacecraft will call home again, the blog post noted. "The team is currently unable to determine the health of the spacecraft, and the lack of a downlink signal could be indicative of a system failure."
https://www.space.com/nasa-icon-earth-satellite-loses-contact
https://blogs.nasa.gov/icon/2022/12/07/icon-mission-out-of-contact/