Potentially Generating Monopoly, US Federal Trade Commission Requests Delay Meta Deal with Within Unlimited

The judge was asked to postpone the Meta Platforms Inc deal to buy Within Unlimited. (photo: dock. meta)

JAKARTA - The US Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, January 31 asked a judge to postpone Meta Platforms Inc.'s deal to buy virtual reality app maker Within Unlimited, while both parties are still waiting for a decision from the court.

The FTC sued the owners of Facebook and Instagram in July 2022 to terminate the deal with Within Unlimited and asked a judge to order a preliminary injunction, saying Meta's "campaign to conquer VR" began in 2014 when it acquired Oculus, a maker of VR headsets. There was a trial into the case last December.

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The agency asked the court to order Meta not to close its deal for Within Unlimited until 11:59 p.m. Pacific time on the first business day after which a judge decides whether the deal can go ahead. Or, according to the agency in the lawsuit, the judge can extend the existing temporary restraining order by 7 days.

The current restraining order expires Tuesday evening at 11:59 a.m. Pacific time.

The battle to determine whether Meta can go ahead with this relatively small deal is seen as a test of the FTC's bid to prevent what it sees as a repeat of the company acquiring up and coming small rivals to secure dominance, this time in the nascent virtual and augmented reality markets.