Justice Department warns Academy over potentially excluding Netflix

The feud between Netflix and the old Hollywood guard who’d like to exclude the streaming service has a new challenger: the Department of Justice.

The head of the DOJ’s antitrust division has sent a letter to the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences, which runs the Oscars, warning the organization over potential antitrust violations if it decides to exclude streaming services from future award shows.

In the letter obtained by Variety,  DOJ antitrust chief Makan Delrahim writes that “in the event that the Academy — an association that includes multiple competitors in its membership — establishes certain eligibility requirements for the Oscars that eliminate competition without procompetitive justification, such conduct may raise antitrust concerns.” Read more...