August 8, 2022
According to a court filing, Meta has agreed to delay completion of the Within Unlimited deal, a virtual reality (VR) media and technology company that develops advanced technologies for storytelling in immersive media.
In a joint court filing on Thursday, Meta agreed not to close the case until 11.59pm on December 31, or until the first business day after the judge’s decision.
Meta was forced to make a decision after the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit in July to stop the deal, arguing that Meta’s plan to get Within Unlimited was a way for Meta to dominate the virtual reality industry.
The FTC voted 3-2 to file the lawsuit, which describes Facebook as a “global technology behemoth” that has bought platforms to destroy competition. In the allegation pointed at Meta, the FTC accuses the company of starting its “campaign to conquer VR” in 2014 when it acquired Oculus, a VR headset production company.
The commission has therefore asked a judge in the Federal Court in San Francisco for an injunction to prevent the companies from concluding the deal.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.
