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Comment by baggiponte | Hacker News Reader

Totally agree I don’t get why antitrust gave the okay to this…

Anyone here can lodge this simple form and I'd encourage you to do so. Especially if you think this merger will substantially lesson competition and stifle innovation lodge a complaint: https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/report-antitrust-violation

At a minimum, they will investigate this and make inquiries (typically within months) if they see a high volume of complaints.

See https://www.ftc.gov/advice-guidance/competition-guidance/gui... For more info on the relevant law :)

1. Here is the email:

antitrust@ftc.gov

2. It should include something similar the following (maybe a lawyer here, could help):

a. Adobe acquiring Figma may violate anti-trust laws. b. These are the 2 dominate players in web design apps. There is very little competition elsewhere. c. I am a user and once they merge there is no viable competitor.

Sent, thank you. I also made sure to mention the "consumer harm" (keyword) of forcing consumers to engage with Adobe's predatory pricing model ("annual subscription billed monthly" bs)

The antitrust agencies in the United States (FTC and DOJ) do not proactively give approval for companies to merge. After official merger filings have been made (which they have not in this case), the FTC or DOJ have a process in which they gather evidence and determine whether they have grounds to challenge the proposed merger. [1]

[1] https://www.ftc.gov/advice-guidance/competition-guidance/gui...

Did they? Typically, the intent to merge comes before any anti-trust investigation.

Probably because anti-trust enforcement only seems to get involved when two already huge companies are involved.

Nah, they just have different rules for different huge tech companies.

FTC is blocking Meta’s acquisition of Within, the maker of a VR fitness app - an extremely niche product. Meanwhile Microsoft and Adobe seem confident that they can close on deals to buy Activision and Figma.

They haven't decided anything yet

can antitrust prevent public companies from acquiring private companies?

yes. Whether they're public or private doesn't change anything about how competitive they are.

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