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Washington: A federal judge has sided with Facebook parent Meta<\/a> and cleared the way for the company to buy virtual reality startup Within Unlimited, the maker of the popular fitness app Supernatural. Federal antitrust regulators had sought to block the acquisition on the grounds that it would hurt competition in the emerging virtual reality market.
But U.S. District Judge Edward Davila denied the Federal Trade Commission<\/a>'s request for a preliminary injunction against the deal. The judge's ruling said the agency did not provide sufficient evidence to prove its case.
Meta<\/a> said it will now proceed with its acquisition of Within Unlimited.
The FTC<\/a> had argued that Meta's acquisition of the small company - reminiscent of Facebook's early purchases of Instagram<\/a> and WhatsApp - would hurt competition in the emerging virtual reality market.
Allowing the tech giant to buy Los Angeles-based Within Unlimited, the FTC<\/a> had argued, would violate antitrust laws and dampen innovation, hurting consumers who may face higher prices and fewer options outside of Meta-controlled platforms.
Meta Platforms Inc. said in a statement late Friday after the ruling was unsealed that it is \"pleased\" with the decision.
\"This deal will bring pro-competitive benefits to the ecosystem and spur innovation that will benefit people, developers, and the VR space more broadly,\" the company based in Menlo Park, California, said. \"We look forward to closing the transaction soon.\"
The FTC had argued that Meta scrapped its own plans to enter the nascent VR fitness market in the summer of 2021 when it decided to buy Within Unlimited. Without the competitive threat of the tech giant's entry into the market on its own, the agency asserts, innovation stalls, hurting end users.
\"The threat is what keeps firms going,\" testified economist Hal Singer, a witness for the FTC. \"If I know there is a chance that someone could come in and steal my lunch,\" he said, companies will innovate and constrain pricing.
But Meta executives - including CEO Mark Zuckerberg<\/a> - sought to play down the notion that the company was anywhere close to creating its own VR fitness app. The Meta CEO testified that even though his company was \"looking at\" developing its own VR fitness app before deciding to acquire Within Unlimited in 2021, the business environment has changed and \"there is almost no chance\" it would start such a project today.
Under Zuckerberg's, Meta moved aggressively into virtual reality in 2014 with its acquisition of headset maker Oculus VR<\/a>. Since then, Meta's VR headsets have become the cornerstone of its growth in the virtual reality space, the FTC noted in its suit.
Fuelled by the popularity of its top-selling Quest headsets, Meta's Quest Store has become a leading U.S. app platform with more than 500 apps available to download, according to the agency.
Meta bought seven of the most successful virtual-reality development studios, and now has one of the largest virtual-reality content catalogs in the world, the FTC noted.
Davila's ruling, however, says the FTC needed to provide \"at least circumstantial evidence\" that Meta's entry into the VR fitness market by itself, not via the acquisition, would have directly and favourably affected consumers by encouraging robust competition.
\"Under this standard, the FTC's evidence on this element is insufficient,\" Davila wrote.
Representatives for the FTC did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Monday.
Davila also oversaw the trial of disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and her partner Ramesh \"Sunny\" Balwani. Both were sentenced to over a decade in prison for their roles in the company's blood-testing hoax.
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元购买虚拟现实在有利的法院裁决后启动
但美国地区法官爱德华Davila否认美国联邦贸易委员会(Federal Trade Commission)的要求初步禁令反对这笔交易。法官的判决表示,该机构没有提供足够的证据来证明。
华盛顿:一位联邦法官站在Facebook的父母元和为公司扫清了道路购买虚拟现实在无限的创业公司,制造商的全民健身应用超自然。联邦反垄断监管机构曾试图阻止收购,理由是这将损害竞争的新兴虚拟现实市场。
但美国地区法官爱德华Davila否认了联邦贸易委员会的要求初步禁令反对这笔交易。法官的判决表示,该机构没有提供足够的证据来证明。
元表示,它将继续在无限的收购。
的联邦贸易委员会曾认为,元的收购小公司——Facebook的早期购买的Instagram和WhatsApp,会损害新兴虚拟现实市场的竞争。
允许这家科技巨头购买洛杉矶在无限联邦贸易委员会认为,将违反反托拉斯法和抑制创新,伤害消费者可能面临更高的价格和更少的选项Meta-controlled以外的平台。
元平台公司在一份声明中说,周五晚执政宣言是“高兴”的决定。
“这笔交易将带来更有利的好处有利于人的生态系统和刺激创新,开发人员,和虚拟现实空间更广泛地说,“公司总部位于门洛帕克,加利福尼亚州,说。“我们期待很快完成交易。”
联邦贸易委员会曾认为,元取消自己的计划进入新兴的虚拟现实健身市场在2021年的夏天在决定买在无限的。没有竞争威胁的科技巨头的进入市场就其本身而言,该机构断言,创新停滞,伤害最终用户。
“是公司的动力之源的威胁,”经济学家哈尔作证歌手,联邦贸易委员会的见证。“如果我有机会知道有人进来偷我的午餐,”他说,企业将创新和限制定价。
但元高管——包括首席执行官马克•扎克伯格——试图淡化的概念,公司正在接近创建自己的虚拟现实健身应用程序。元首席执行官作证说,虽然他的公司是“看”开发自己的VR健身应用程序在2021年决定中获得无限的之前,商业环境发生了变化,“几乎没有机会”将开始今天这样一个项目。
在扎克伯格的,元大举进军虚拟现实在2014年收购的耳机制造商眼睛虚拟现实。从那时起,元的虚拟现实耳机已成为经济增长的基石在虚拟现实领域,联邦贸易委员会指出的西装。
由于其最畅销的流行追求耳机,元商店的追求已经成为一个美国主要应用平台有超过500个应用程序可供下载,根据机构。
元买了七个最成功的虚拟现实开发工作室,现在有一个世界上最大的虚拟现实的内容目录,联邦贸易委员会指出。
戴维拉的统治,然而,说联邦贸易委员会需要提供“至少间接证据”,元进入虚拟现实健身市场本身,不是通过收购,就会直接和积极影响消费者通过鼓励强劲的竞争。
“在这个标准下,联邦贸易委员会对该元素的证据不足,”戴维拉写道。
联邦贸易委员会代表没有立即回复记者的置评请求。
戴维拉也声名狼藉的审判监督Theranos创始人伊丽莎白福尔摩斯和她的搭档拉梅什Balwani“阳光灿烂”。都被判了十年监禁他们的角色在公司的验血骗局。
