Microsoft's acquisition of Activison Blizzard

[Darth Vader]

So they're trying to force a situation in which the cma has less time to do the required paperwork in the hope that they make procedural errors that can be more easily appealed?

Yes, that's my understanding. They did not say this verbatim of course, but their posture points to that.

What are the worst and best case scenarios for the ruling today in your opinion?

Best case? Regular timeline to be followed, which will mean deal is dead regardless of what the CMA has to provide.
Worst case? Judge orders that the CMA has to come up with their case within an expedited timeline (2 to 4 weeks) while complying with the exact same level of standards of a regular timeline.

Edit - I am not an expert nor a lawyer, so my understanding may be completely wrong. Take all I say with a grain of salt.

 

[AshHunter216]

Yes, that's my understanding. They did not say this verbatim of course, but their posture points to that.



Best case? Regular timeline to be followed, which will mean deal is dead regardless of what the CMA has to provide.
Worst case? Judge orders that the CMA has to come up with their case within an expedited timeline (2 to 4 weeks) while complying with the exact same level of standards of a regular timeline.

Edit - I am not an expert nor a lawyer, so my understanding may be completely wrong. Take all I say with a grain of salt.

I could see the end result being somewhere in the middle. Faster than normal, but not super fast along with with less rigorous requirements.

 

[Darth Vader]

I could see the end result being somewhere in the middle. Faster than normal, but not super fast with less rigorous requirements.

Any slower than "the usual" will probably hit past Microsoft's deadline.

 

[Swift_Star]

Yes, that's my understanding. They did not say this verbatim of course, but their posture points to that.



Best case? Regular timeline to be followed, which will mean deal is dead regardless of what the CMA has to provide.
Worst case? Judge orders that the CMA has to come up with their case within an expedited timeline (2 to 4 weeks) while complying with the exact same level of standards of a regular timeline.

Edit - I am not an expert nor a lawyer, so my understanding may be completely wrong. Take all I say with a grain of salt.

It is preposterous if the judge does what MS wants, tbh. They shouldn't abide by what this shitty company wants.

 

[Darth Vader]

CMA Lawyer basically says that they have reservations in addressing any "technical errors" orally, which would depart from their regular standards.

It is preposterous if the judge does what MS wants, tbh. They shouldn't abide by what this shitty company wants.

Agreed.

 

[AshHunter216]

Any slower than "the usual" will probably hit past Microsoft's deadline.

I see. If only the CMA's lawyer were better. Supposedly judges are supposed to rule based on the evidence and not how well the lawyers argue, but that is often not always the case.

 

[Darth Vader]

Judge doesn't want a case where they can only fairly deal with the issues by churning volumes of paper. He is wondering if there's a better way to deal with things, he's open to debating those.

I see. If only the CMA's lawyer were better. Supposedly judges are supposed to rule based on the evidence and not how well the lawyers argue, but that is often not always the case.

Yes.

 

[AshHunter216]

CMA Lawyer basically says that they have reservations in addressing any "technical errors" orally, which would depart from their regular standards.



Agreed.

From a layman's perspective that seems like a reasonable point to make, but I dunno.

 

[Swift_Star]

Judge doesn't want a case where they can only fairly deal with the issues by churning volumes of paper. He is wondering if there's a better way to deal with things, he's open to debating those.



Yes.

It seems the judge is not stupid after all.

 

[Darth Vader]

CMA lawyer wants to alleviate a situation where there's an undue burden on the CMA in dealing with this. They are trying to keep a fair and due process prior to a final hearing, and want to abide by the necessary standards since there's a wealth of evidence that needs to be captured and recorded.

He also says that the CMA needs time to assess/appreciate the evidence so that they can adequately respond to them. Side note: Microsoft only provided them with the documentation yesterday. He argues that they need at least a couple of weeks just to review the volume of data provided.

The lawyer also adds that there are serious practical questions around it being feasible to have this sort of hearing occurring sufficiently quickly in order to maintain the timeline the judge / Microsoft are exploring.

From a layman's perspective that seems like a reasonable point to make, but I dunno.

Yeah it is.

 

[Darth Vader]

They want to push this back to July at the very least, and mentioned that they are looking to have it at the very end of the month.

 

[Eternal_Wings]

So is the trial in favor for CMA?

 

[MrRevocs1256]

So is the trial in favor for CMA?

Apparently not

 

[Darth Vader]

Some stuff from the CMA argument that kinda backs my opinion. The below are almost direct quotes, except for any errors I corrected in how a sentence flows when spoken and not written. They are as verbatim as possible.

The point we made in our skeleton argument [...] is that if the question is whether the material relied on by the CMA contains an incontrovertible error. It's possible that we wouldn't be able to defend our position on that issue based on internal evidence, and when you raised the possibility of the CMA putting forward an individual economist to explain the CMAs position on those issues, Mr Beard was very careful to reserve his position as to whether that would be a proper way for that matter to be dealt with.

So as we stand here today all we can do is say that on the principles in the authorities expert evidence which seeks to establish the sorts of propositions that Mr Beards clients want to establish may well be the subject of responsive evidence, going to the question of whether there's an incontrovertible error, and we would need to consider in due course whether that would need to be an independent expert. Now the point you made before the break is that it would necessarily introduce a delay, and we made points in our skeleton argument about the sort of steps that we would need to take.

As we see it its really difficult to see a clear way through that avoids these issues [...] and you're establishing a direction of travel that has to cater for the difficulties and contingencies that arise in the case, and i repeat the point - These are issues generated by Microsoft's approach to the application. It didnt need to present the application the way that it did but it has chosen to do it this way.

 

[gokuss4]

So is the trial in favor for CMA?

Nope

 

[Darth Vader]

So basically

• Microsoft wants to expedite due process and is unwilling to allow for concessions in how due process is followed and how the case is presented
• Microsoft also wants to steer clear of independent economical analysis of the CMAs arguments
• They created the problem by presenting the evidence the way they did

I need to stop writing because I have some work to do, but hope the above has been helpful.

 

[AshHunter216]

Some stuff from the CMA argument that kinda backs my opinion. The below are almost direct quotes, except for any errors I corrected in how a sentence flows when spoken and not written. They are as verbatim as possible.

Seems like the crux of the argument is that the approach to the case Microsoft are requesting is impossible/unreasonable to request.

 

[Darth Vader]

Seems like the crux of the argument is that the approach to the case Microsoft are requesting is impossible/unreasonable to request.

Yes, that's what it seems. IMO Microsoft waited until the final day, presented an extensive report, refuses to allow for independent economist analysis, and wants an expedited timeline while not allowing for concessions that would allow for such expedited timeline.

They are doing their job, of course, but this is a charade, and honestly, if the judge buys it, I have absolutely no words to describe how dumb that is.

 

[AshHunter216]

So is the trial in favor for CMA?

It started off not going well, but MS still might not get the schedule they want for this. This hearing does not determine the CAT'S final judgement regardless.

 

[Darth Vader]

It started off not going well, but MS still might not get the schedule they want for this. This hearing does not determine the CAT'S final judgement regardless.