Midnight blues: The Tipline for 1 February 2023

Many of us spent yesterday waiting for news from the US District Court for the Northern District of California as it eventually drip-fed last-minute updates on Meta/Within. First, the Federal Trade Commission filed a last-ditch request to stop the companies closing their deal today as planned, given Judge Edward Davila’s ruling on the challenge was nowhere in sight. Then, just before midnight, two sealed orders appeared – one on the merger challenge, the other on the FTC’s late filing. Finally: a status conference mysteriously appeared on the docket, set for 7 February. No word from Meta and Within on what those sealed documents ruled.