Antitrust Modernization Commission's tentative recommendations endorse the status quo

In 2002 Congress authorized the creation of an Antitrust Modernization Commission to examine whether the need exists to "modernize" the antitrust laws.  This month the Commission issued its tentative recommendations, and by and large the Commission concludes that our existing laws are plenty modern.

Some have argued that antitrust law should be changed to address the "network effects" in markets such as that for computer operating systems, and to otherwise govern technologies not contemplated when the laws were written decades ago.  But the Commission's tentative conclusion is that "there is no need to revise the antitrust laws to apply different rules to industries where innovation, intellectual property, and technological change are central features."

The Commission similarly suggests no legislative changes to Sherman Act Section 2, which prohibits exclusionary conduct by single firms.  Instead the recommendations suggest that the courts continue to shape the law on what constitutes anticompetitive behavior. 

The Commission does recommend the repeal of the much-reviled Robinson-Patman Act, an arcane law that prohibits price discrimination.