The FTC ’s Bizarre Move Against Meta’s Purchase of Within

Ryan Bourne, Brad Subramaniam, and Rachel ChiuThe FTC this week reaffirmed its vendetta against Big Tech with a move to block Meta (Facebook) fromacquiring Within Unlimited. Within produces the leading virtual reality (VR) fitness app “Supernatural” — a subscription service designed for Meta ’s Oculus Quest headset that offers trainer‐​led workout sessions. Lina Khan’s agency claims the purchase would “tend to create a monopoly ” in the market for “virtual reality dedicated fitness apps.” This, it contends, would harm consumers, innovation, and competition.As withprevious attempts to dub Meta a monopolist, the FTC begins by setting an extremely narrow market definition to judge the acquisition. The “virtual reality dedicated fitness apps” contour claims, in effect, that Supernatural only competes with other VR fitness apps designed specifically to deliver structured physical workouts to users in their own homes, ignoring fitness programs on other consoles or web‐​connected machines.This starting point is farcical. When someone wants to workout, they have the option to use Pelotons, Mirrors, or Tonals, or programs on their Nintendo, Microsoft ’s Xbox, or Sony’s Playstation. They can opt for treadmills, gym memberships, individual classes, high intensity workout groups, weight machines, a personal trainer, and mobile apps, or even join a sports team or go for a run. The idea that the only thing meaningfully su...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs