대규모 IT 인수기업의 재분리 주장에 관한 경쟁법적 연구 = Competition Law Implications of the Argument that Big Tech Companies Should Unwind their Consummated Mergers to Restore Competition

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

During her recent presidential campaign, Senator Elizabeth E. Warren proposed a plan to break-up big tech companies such as Amazon, Facebook and Google. As a part of her break-up plan, she argues for the unwinding of consummated mergers of these companies, with the goal of restoring competition in the tech sector. This paper examines the rationale behind Warren’s unwinding policy and why the senator and her supporters are arguing that the U.S. antitrust authorities should engage in the unprecedented unwinding of various tech mergers. The paper further examines relevant merger laws of the U.S. and shows how her plan to unwind mergers is at odds with the merger enforcement practice in the U.S. The paper also analyzes the main criticisms lodged against Warren’s unwinding policy. Her policy is criticized for being difficult to implement, and for endangering the predictability of the current pre-merger filing regime. More fundamentally, critics say that her policy lacks necessary economic analysis and is overambitious in its goals.

국문 초록 (Abstract)

현재 미국의 상원의원이면서 민주당 대선후보 중 한 명인 엘리자베스 E. 워런은 미국IT시장의 경쟁을 회복시키기 위해서는 미국 경쟁당국이 나서서 구글, 페이스북, 아마존과 같은 대규모 IT기업들을 분할(“break-up”)해야 한다는 파격적인 주장을 하고 있다.
그러한 기업 분할 정책의 일환으로 워런은 이미 인수가 완료된 기업들을 재분리해야 한다고 주장한다. 이 글은 이러한 워런의 “인수기업 재분리” 정책 및 이 정책을 둘러싼 찬반논란을 분석하고 소개한다. 워런 및 지지자들은 이러한 “인수기업 재분리” 정책이 대규모 IT기업들의 시장집중도 및 정치적인 힘을 완화시킬 수 있다고 주장하고 있다. 그러나 이러한 워런의 정책은 미국 경쟁당국의 집행관행에 비추어 봤을 때 매우 예외적인정책이다. 워런이 재분리하고자 하는 인수 건들의 대부분은 미국 경쟁당국에 사전에 신고되어 실질적인 승인을 받은 경우인데, 경쟁당국이 사전에 검토 후 승인한 거래에 관하여 나중에 이의를 제기하는 것은 법적으로 가능하다 할지라도 극히 드문 일이며 여러가지 문제점들을 내포하고 있다는 지적이 있다. 우리에게도 잘 알려진 마이크로소프트사사건에서도 판단된 것처럼 인수가 완결되어 하나로 운영되는 IT 회사를 재분리하자는주장은 실효성이 떨어진다는 비판이 있으며, 이렇게 사전 승인된 거래들에 관하여 사후적으로 이의를 제기하게 되면 미국의 기업결합을 위한 사전신고제도의 취지가 무색해질것이라는 우려도 있다. 더 근본적으로 워런의 정책은 경제학적인 분석이 뒷받침되지 않아 정책의 효과를 예측하기 어렵고, 경쟁법의 본래 목적을 왜곡한다는 비판도 있다

참고문헌 (Reference)

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