J. Anthony Chavez

Sunset with the Moon high in the sky.

An early morning walk in Houston.

I just registered for the ABA Antitrust Law Section Spring Meeting. Discounted Early Bird registration ends on February 5, 2026. share.google/0lcnkeFugoVm...

I made the mistake of trying to stop by the grocery store to pick up a few things. I have lived in Houston long enough that I should have remembered that you avoid shopping right before expected bad weather. I was not even thinking about the weather.

The joys of Holiday travel. Fortunately, everything went like clock work. A 2:15 am wake up call for a 5::10 am flight back to Houston, drive to SMF, gas, car rental return, long line for security (but none for TSA pre), then arrived at the departure gate right at the start of pre boarding.

With the Global Entry Mobile App, I made my best time ever in navigating through border control. I took my photo while I walking from the plane, but everything worked smoothly.

Worth reading:

Google Must Limit Default Contracts to One Year, Judge Rules Alphabet Inc.’s Google must renegotiate any contract to make its search engine or artificial intelligence app the default for smartphones and other devices every year, a federal judge ruled.

Final Google judgment dropped www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Meta halted internal research suggesting social media harm, court filing alleges Meta is alleged to have halted internal research suggesting social media harm, according to court documents.

Meta halted internal research that purportedly showed (young) people who stopped using Facebook became less depressed and anxious, according to an unredacted legal filing released on Friday. www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/m...

Anticompetitive Acquiescence in AI Content Licensing - ProMarket Large AI firms like OpenAI and Amazon are licensing content to train their models that they might otherwise have been able to access for free under the fair use doctrine. Mark A. Lemley and Jacob Noti...

@jnvictor.bsky.social and I have a new paper out in ProMarket on the curious phenomenon of AI companies signing copyright licensing agreements that undermine their fair use defenses, and the potential anticompetitive effects of the practice

www.promarket.org/2025/11/18/a...

Why climbing the stairs can be good for your body and brain While it is tempting to take the lift or escalator rather than use the stairs, even scaling just a few flights a day could give your health and mind a boost.

I am a big believer in the benefits of climbing stairs every day. share.google/Ztg7pbmuReRG...

ANTICOMPETITIVE DIRECTORS - Columbia Law Review “The practice of interlocking directorates is the root of many evils. It offends laws human and divine.” — Justice Louis Brandeis. Introduction Antitrust law prohibits competing corporations from shar...

My paper with @vanloo.bsky.social and @lanemiles.bsky.social showing that more than 15% of US companies have potentially illegal interlocking board members is now published in the Columbia Law Review

columbialawreview.org/content/anti...

With TSA Pre-Check, I quickly made through security at IAH.

69 flights climbed before 8 am - a good way to start the day.

The start of another day. I am trying to average climbing 20 flights of stairs each day. I hope that the huffing and puffing is good for my health.

Garfield Nominates John Sherman | American Experience | PBS At the 1880 Republican Convention in Chicago, James Garfield was called upon to make a nominating address for fellow Ohioan, John Sherman.

I just read Garfield’s speech nomining Senator Sherman at the 1880 Republican Convention. Worth reading and reflecting on how American politics has changed. The full version is better than the extract in the Netflix miniseries. share.google/6OP7ndM3ve7Q...

A beautiful day in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

The weather has finally cooled in Houston.

Currently a pleasant 66 degrees in Houston, Texas. We had a a major storm this morning and my company’s emergency notification system woke me up a little before 3am.

EU should stand firm despite US pressure, ex-EU competition chief says Brussels’s tech laws have come under pressure ever since the new US administration took office in January.

Brussels’s tech laws have come under pressure ever since the new US administration took office in January.

Enjoying the Houston Arboretum

Enjoying a slightly cooler Houston evening.

My piece on "Finding Monopoly: Antitrust Market Definition" is in the Sep. 2025 CPI Antitrust Chronicle, part of a symposium on market definition in antitrust. No longer paywalled. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Another good evening view of the Houston skyline.

Wild life. I was walking in Washington DC by a parking lot when I heard a large rat scurrying by. My reactions were a bit slow and he was around 15 feet away when I managed to take a photo.

I meant TSA PRE

I made it to my gate with plenty time to spare. Drive to Terminal C took 38 minutes, 10 minutes to get through security, and then just a 5 minute brisk walk to gate C45. Having TSA always helps speed the process.

Unforeseen issues resulted in a late departure to the airport. Fortunately it is a domestic flight and there are other flights to Washington DC. Otherwise, I would be a bit more stressed about getting picked up for a trip to IAH 1 hour and 3 minutes before scheduled boarding.

AI firm Anthropic reaches landmark $1.5B copyright deal with book authors The company behind the chatbot Claude avoided trial over claims it improperly downloaded millions of books.

Breaking news: Anthropic, the artificial intelligence company behind the popular chatbot Claude, agreed to pay a landmark $1.5 billion settlement to book publishers and authors to avoid trial over claims it improperly downloaded millions of titles.