US FTC urge judge to stop Meta Platforms deal of acquiring Within Unlimited

• The FTC filed a lawsuit against the Meta Platforms.
• The matter went to trial in December.
• The order would end on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the US Federal Trade Commission urged a judge to halt Meta Platforms Inc’s acquisition of virtual reality software developer Within Unlimited while the parties awaited the court’s ruling.

The FTC filed a lawsuit against the owner of Facebook and Instagram in July to halt the Within acquisition and sought the court to issue a preliminary injunction. The FTC claimed that Meta’s “effort to conquer VR” started in 2014 when it bought VR gear producer Oculus. The matter went to trial in December.

The company requested that the judge order Meta to postpone finalizing its transaction for Within until 11:59 p.m. Pacific time on the first business day following the judge’s decision regarding the deal’s viability. Or, the agency suggested in a court document, the judge might decide to extend the current temporary restraining order by another week.

On Tuesday at 11:59 Pacific time, the present restraining order will end.

The FTC’s effort to prevent what it sees as a repeat of the company buying small up-and-coming would-be competitors to secure dominance, this time in the nascent virtual and augmented reality markets, is being put to the test in the battle to determine whether Meta could move forward with this relatively small deal.

Also Read

Mark Zuckerberg has placed Meta’s middle management on notice

Mark Zuckerberg told Meta employees to "flat tenuate" the company's management structure....