Labor attorney Harold P. Spivak, senior partner of New York law firm Spivak, Lipton, Watanabe, Spivak and Moss, passed away Jan. 12 at his home in Manhattan. He was 83.
Spivak was general counsel for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States and Canada (IATSE). He also represented many craft unions serving Broadway theatres, the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center, including those of stagehands, makeup artists, hairstylists, wardrobe personnel and studio mechanics.
Spivak was born in Savannah, Ga., grew up in New York and graduated from City College and New York University Law School. In 1989, he and his son, Steven B. Spivak, joined with other partners to form Spivak, Lipton, Watanabe, Spivak and Moss.
Besides his son, a resident of Manhattan, Spivak is survived by his wife of 56 years, Ruth Spivak; a daughter, Barbara Spivak of Newton, Mass.; two sisters, Pearl Levy and Evelyn Weingold of Manhattan; and five grandchildren.
Donations may be made to the Richard F. Walsh/Alfred W. Di Tolla Scholarship Foundation, c/o IATSE, 1515 Broadway, Suite 601, New York, NY 10036.
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More