Microsoft has called the FTC unconstitutional, and regrets the error

Today, Microsoft filed a revised response to a lawsuit filed by the United States Federal Trade Commission aimed at blocking the tech giant from buying Call of duty Publisher: Activision. the initial deposit It contained multiple arguments alleging that the FTC itself and its judicial system were unconstitutional. But now, Microsoft has taken that language out of the document and claimed it was all a mistake. You know, just plain wrong calling a large government agency unconstitutional.

Last year, Microsoft announced its plans for consumption Call of duty And the World of Warcraft Publisher Activision Blizzard for a A whopping $69 billion. Since then, Microsoft and Activision Blizzard have faced off Pushbacks and legal hurdles around the world Several government agencies and regulatory commissions are investigating whether the mega deal will give Microsoft an unfair advantage against its competitors. As you might expect, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, and He spent 2022, filing responses, documents and court papers trying to make the deal happen.

In a press release from the Federal Trade Commission last month, the agency announced a lawsuit against the merger and argued that Microsoft would be able to stifle its competitors by making Xbox games exclusives and price gouging, should the deal go through. Microsoft responded with a response that contained plenty of arguments, including the assertion that the FTC itself was in fact unconstitutional.

However, as I mentioned before AxiosAnd the Microsoft today resubmitted its response In the lawsuit he omitted the section arguing that the FTC’s lawsuit was “invalid because the structure of the commission as an independent agency with substantial executive power” violates Article II of the US Constitution. In this same section of the original filing, Microsoft also argued that the lawsuit and the FTC’s legal actions were “invalid” because the FTC’s formal complaint violated Article III of the US Constitution. Oh, and Microsoft’s legal team also alleged that the FTC’s “actions” violated the company’s “right to equal protection under the Fifth Amendment.”

Read more: Gamers are suing Microsoft for thwarting its merger with Activision

Now it’s all gone Microsoft says Axios it maybe uIt wasn’t in that initial document in the first place.

“The FTC has an important mission to protect competition and consumers, and we quickly updated our response to remove language indicating otherwise based on the Constitution,” said Microsoft Public Affairs spokesperson David Cuddy. Axios. “We initially put all possible arguments on the table internally and should have dropped those defenses before we were presented.”

Microsoft says it appreciates all the “feedback” it has received on its arguments alleging that the FTC itself was unconstitutional and that it “engages directly with those who have expressed concerns” to clarify the company’s position on the matter. In other words, the FTC probably didn’t take it very kindly to be called unconstitutional, and it probably shouldn’t piss off the people who are suing you and trying to stop your whole big merger from happening.

Axios Reports indicate that Activision is also shooting down similar claims It was included in his separate response For the same FTC lawsuit.