Business briefs for Oct. 8

Published 12:33 pm Tuesday, October 8, 2024

The Supreme Court says it won’t hear an appeal from the social media platform X over a search warrant prosecutors obtained in the election-interference case against former President Donald Trump. The company, known as Twitter before it was purchased by billionaire Elon Musk, says a nondisclosure order that blocked it from telling Trump about the warrant obtained by special counsel Jack Smith’s team violated its First Amendment rights and the former president should have had a chance to assert executive privilege. Prosecutors, though, say the company never showed Trump had used the account for official purposes so executive privilege wouldn’t be an issue. A lower court also found that telling Trump could have jeopardized the ongoing investigation.

A federal judge said the Federal Trade Commission can proceed with its landmark antitrust lawsuit against Amazon. But Judge John H. Chun also gave the company a small victory by tossing out a few claims made by states involved in the legal fight. The order, which was issued last week and unsealed on Monday, is a defeat for Amazon. The online retailer has tried for months to get the case tossed out in court. The FTC celebrated the ruling on Monday. Amazon, for its part, expressed confidence that it could prove its argument in court as the case proceeds. A trial in the case is slated to be held in October 2026.

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from Martin Shkreli, who was once dubbed “Pharma Bro” after jacking up the price of a lifesaving drug. Shkreli appealed an order to return $64.6 million in profits he and his former company reaped after monopolizing the market for the medication and drastically increasing its price. His lawyers argued that money went to his company rather than him personally. Prosecutors, though, said the company had agreed in a settlement to pay $40 million, and because Shkreli masterminded the scheme he should bear responsibility for repaying profits.

A federal judge on Monday ordered Google to tear down the digital walls shielding its Android app store from competition as a punishment for maintaining an illegal monopoly that helped expand the company’s internet empire. The injunction issued by U.S. District Judge James Donato will require Google to make several changes that the Mountain View, California, company had been resisting, including a provision that will require its Play Store for Android apps to distribute rival third-party app stores so consumers can download them to their phones if they so desire.

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